the secret handshake

Yesterday afternoon, I headed to Mass. to meet up with someone. I knew she had some sort of interest in the fiber arts, but I didn't know details or extent. I walked into her house and our very pleasant conversation began. Since there is no official secret handshake for fiber freaks to exchange upon meeting, we both pretended to be normal ;-) and talked about our dogs at first, since hers looked like a miniature version of mine and that was a natural starting point.

After a while, I noticed a spinning wheel in the hallway.

And circular knitting needles on an end table. And a big quilt hanging on the wall.

And then she showed me her loom room...and the wall of yarn...and the bead spinner.

While she showed me something in the basement, I noticed an inkle loom off to the side.

Back on the first floor, I noticed two cones of thread/yarn on the kitchen counter.

Then she revealed that the large, many-drawered cabinet in the foyer is where all her beads are stashed and she showed me a gorgeous jacket made from her handwoven fabric.

Once we got going, we couldn't stop. We chatted. We bopped around her house. She's not knitting much anymore, so she asked if she could send me home with a box of leftover yarn for Leah's stash:

Yeah, that's about 20 skeins of Dalegarn Heilo, five skeins of a black and gold silk/mohair blend, two huge skeins of bulky hand-dyed yarn, some handspun wool, about 10 skeins of a rayon/cotton blend, a bunch of odd skeins, a cone of laceweight natural wool, a few big cones of chenille, and more. Just because. From someone I had known for less than an hour. Wow! No secret handshake necessary when enthusiasm and generosity are as obvious as they consistently are among fiberfolks.

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Coming up soon: A parade of FOs. Just waiting for the knitter of a good many of the items to come home from her third sleepover in four nights, so she can model her most recent projects (and squeal upon sight of this pile on my desk)!