Last Saturday, myself and my very favourite enablers partners in crime (Rayna, Leslie & Tito) went for a road trip out to Colbourne to see the Sensei of All Things Spinning Related. Alas, I cannot share photos for a while, but I will tell you that my antique wheel is being repaired, and that I have ordered a fabulous handmade Charkha from the man himself. Here is me being an absolute failure at it:

After leaving Colbourne we paid homage to the Great Tradition of the 401, and had lunch at the Big Apple.

We drove into Port Hope, to check out a store I’d researched online called The Black Lamb. The Black Lamb specialized in weaving and spinning. Much damage to my credit cards ensued.

This is Laurie. She’s a hoot. She’s sweet, friendly, enthusiastic, irreverent and we adored her instantly. She not only had weaving looms (something I’ve been craving for a while) but she bade me take off my jacket, sit down and actually weave a few inches while she talked through the features of the loom I ended up buying – the 20” Knitters loom from Ashford. It should arrive in a week or two!

Rayna was looking to buy some roving to spin/knit something for her hubby. Her hubby’s favourite colours include black, light black, blue black, brown black, off black and charcoal for really flamboyant days. Before she could pay for her roving however, Laurie looked at us, and offered to take us to ‘The Pit’.

This was an adventure, right? Ok, so maybe this is where she keeps the bodies. But we were game, and for our bravery we were rewarded with what I imagine the storage rooms of Mexican drug dealers look like… except filled with bags and bags of roving.

Like kids, we happily dug through piles, literally piles, of this stuff. Rayna walked out with more than she can shake a stick at (see what I did there?). She walked out with 2 pounds of roving.

I’ll be seeing Laurie again soon to get my loom. I’ve been researching and pinteresting (is that a verb yet?) and generally getting myself psyched up to be a weaver. I’m already looking into the accessories I’ll be wanting to buy from her to increase my creative possibilities. The adventure continues!