Spinning at the Falls

I spent a wonderful weekend at the Silver Falls State Park showing and teaching spinning. The two days flew by with people streaming in and out of the log cabin.
Path to the Log Cabin. Umm, the Salmon berries are ripe.A peek at South Falls
South Falls - 177ft. Click for a bigger picture, do you see the people?



Here are just a few of the many people who spun some yarn. After about the third person I developed a pretty comprehensive method to where a person was able to spin their yard of roving in just a few minutes.








I set up the Louet Victoria to the side of the huge fireplace where the dutch oven biscuits were constantly cooking. The two women must have made almost 500 biscuits on Saturday. Each batch devoured as soon it was served. Hand-shaken butter and fresh strawberry/raspberry jam completed the goodness.

Though I didn't have time for much personal spinning, I was able to spinning the second ounce of the corriedale green roving. I'd been spinning fine and quite evenly until spinning at the cabin where my concentration was what it needed to be. This picture was before I began spinning the second ounce at the cabin. Unfortunately that ounce turned out thicker and more uneven. For the first time I tried chain plying. I wish I hadn't. If I'd plyed it back on itself it would have been much better. Now I'm not sure what to do with the 117 yards of the 3ply. (It's still drying.)

The mystery project: Thanks for the guesses so far. It's not a baby blanket, shawl or a scarf, but it will be worn. I'll post another hint next post.


For those of you who asked about the Marion berries, they are a type of blackberry developed at Oregon State University. From Wiki: "Marion (marketed as marionberry) is the most important cultivar and is from a cross between Chehalem and Olallie (commonly called olallieberry) berries. It is said to "capture the best attributes of both berries and yields an aromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor" [1]. Olallie in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. "Marion", "Chehalem" and "Olallie" are just three of the many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry breeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Trailing blackberries are vigorous, crown forming, require a trellis for support, and are less cold hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the Pacific Northwest of the USA, these types do well in similar climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, and the Mediterranean countries."

They are big and juicy with a delicious tart sweetness perfect for eating out of hand, pies, or jam. They are a huge commercial crop in this area.