Something to Remember, Something to Celebrate

Pink flamingos in the heart of Missouri?  No, I'm not going to tell you I spotted these exotic creatures on my latest walk through the woods.  These flamingos live in the Animal Kingdom down near Orlando, Florida.  I snapped a few shots of them while visiting with my Mom recently.  But they're so festive, so pink that I thought they would be a great way to introduce this post.

October is a special month - Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It's a time to remember  friends and loved ones who have been affected by this disease.  It's also a time to remember the importance of monthly self-exams and yearly mammograms.  Breast cancer strikes 1 in every 8 American women.  And it's not only women with a family history of breast cancer.  Even women with healthy lifestyles and no family history are affected.  This is not simply a public service announcement.  I'm a breast cancer survivor, have friends who are survivors, have lost a friend to it.  Chances are you have a friend or loved one who has confronted the disease, or are a survivor yourself.  It's a cause close to my heart.  So remember to take care of yourself and take care of your loved ones.  End of sermon.

This coming week, October 4 through 10 is also a special week - National Spinning and Weaving Week.  It's the time for all of us yarny types to celebrate our skills.  Although it's not included in the name, I like to think of this week as a celebration of all the fiber arts - knitting, crochet, feltmaking, dyeing, the works. 

I have been weaving for over 30 years now, fewer or more years for some of my other fiber skills.  In truth, not a day goes by that I don't weave, spin, knit, etc., or at the very least, think about my current projects.  I've been earning my living with my fiber skills for well over 20 years now.  And I'm still not bored or tired of any of it.  It's part of my life, as much as sleeping, eating, breathing.

What is it about these fiber activities that keep me so entangled in them?  The answer is multi-layered.  I've always enjoyed doing things with my hands.  The repetitive motions of knitting are soothing and familiar, especially after a busy or stressful day.  Spinning lovely fiber is meditation.  Throwing a shuttle to and fro, watching the cloth develop, listening to the clatter and thump of the loom - the physicality of these activities just does something good and postive inside - like a vitamin. Thinking about and then trying out color combinations or new designs is a satisfying creative exercise.

There's something else too.  Through all these years of fiber love, I've met the most inspiring, creative, wacky, sharing people.  Many of them have become my extended fiber family.  We share our successful projects and commiserate over and learn from failures.  Knowing all of these amazing people has been an unexpected, priceless gift.  I have a rainbow of memories that stretches across my life and into the future.  All thanks to messing about with yarn!

So to remember and celebrate these two events, I've decided to have a little fun and offer a fibery giveaway, actually 2 giveaways.   Here are the goodies.

First - 2 skeins (175 yds each) of Louet worsted weight Gems yarn.  Cuddly soft Merino wool in a petal pink.

Second - 2 ounces of soysilk roving which I dyed a deep pink, almost raspberry.

If you'd like to be entered in the drawing, leave a comment telling me what fiber craft (spinning, knitting, weaving, whatever) you do and why you do it.  I want to know what keeps others plying their yarn, creating their fiber rainbows, etc.  Also, let me know which prize you'd like.  You are welcome to enter both but I realize not everyone spins (yet) and so may not be interested in the soysilk.  I'll choose two winners in a random drawing on Friday, October 15 and will announce the winners over that weekend.

In the meantime, remember to do your bit to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Celebrate and share the pleasures and rewards of the fiber arts.  The flamingos and I wish you good luck, good health, and a happy October!