In case you may have noticed, all of us at Little Barn are not as young as we used to be.  Shocking isn't it.  I know, I know....I can easily pass for 27 but the fact is I'm not.  Becky & I are home but pretty much worn out.  So, now to get to the point......We were originally scheduled to open the shop back up tomorrow--Tuesday.  We decided during the drive home to take a couple of extra rest days.  New date to open the shop back up.......Thursday, May 8.  Thanks for understanding everybody!!!!!

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is here again and we are loading the suitcases and heading out.  If you get to the festival, drop by and see us---we'd love to meet you.  May not have time for long conversations, but we'd still love to meet you.

The shop will be closed while we are gone and will re-open on Tuesday May 6th. 

Everybody hang with us.  We are upgrading software and haven't go tall the bugs worked out yet.  For the time being, click on the calendar dates to view the most recent posts. 

Thanks!
L. Constanzos
webmaster

Recycled sari silk waste is back in stock.  It's taken 9mths and 3 companies but it's here.

Finally got some more Angelina back in stock.  Web pages are being updated.  New colors:  watermelon, clear and wysteria

Ok, I know that 2009 is a long way off....BUT.....we decided to move Roc Day 2009 to the Country Inns & Suites in Huntsville.  We have booked the downstairs conference area.  The fire dept has those rooms rated for 100 people--so there will be tons of room and plenty of parking for anyone who wants to come.

We all made it through the conference although we did take a LOT of naps Sunday.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and commented that they learned some new tricks and techniques.  Plus, we have 5 brand new spinners from the beginners class.  From all accounts, they just did fantastic.  A big thank you to our instructors, Merike and Stef, for traveling to be with us.  Another big, big thank you to the attendees--your thoughtful and encouraging comments really made this worthwhile for us.  Since we had such a great turn out at Roc Day '08, we are giving serious though to renting the downstairs rooms at the hotel for Roc Day '09.  Take out all the tables and we could get a BUNCH of spinners in there--the fire dept has those rooms rated for 100 people.  I think we could round up a hundred spinners....

If you are arriving on Thursday, I'll be at the hotel setting up in the afternoon and evening.  The hotel registration desk is straight in the front doors.  Conference registration, shopping and break/lunch rooms are to the left from the hotel desk.  The classrooms are past the hotel desk to the right and up the stairs.  We'll have carrying help available and signs on the classrooms.

Whew!  Between all four of us having the flu, lambing, getting the last minute details polished for the conference and trying to get a shipment out of China....It's been a long, LONG weekend.  Here's some "eye candy" for everyone to enjoy! We named him Moose....and yes, his brother is named Squirrel  !!!!

We have had a cancellation due to sickness for the Friday class, Handspinning for Handknitting with Merike Saarniit.  If you are interested in taking this class, email or call ASAP.

Saw this posted on a yahoo group.  Definitely worth watching as the spinning is pretty impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2iY4VFDiZI

As they say, if it can go wrong it will.....Country Inns & Suites has had a problem.  We have just found out that the room divider that partitioned off the classrooms (and provided sound proofing) has been irreparably damaged over the past weekend and subsequently removed.  A replacement partition cannot be manufactured and shipped in time for the conference.  Country Inns corporate headquarters will not allow us to rent a partition for the classrooms--it's a liability thing.  If we try to put both classes in the downstairs room, folks will be crowded and no one will be able to hear..at all.  It's just that simple.  

What does this mean to you as seminar participants???

We have had to flip-flop the configuration.  Breaks, lunches and shopping will now be downstairs.
The 2 classrooms that will be available for use are upstairs.  There is no elevator.  (Who was this architect???)  It's 8 steps, a landing, turn left and 8 more steps to the classrooms.  We have requested that Country Inns & Suites provide us with personnel to help carry spinning wheels up the stairs.  Whether they comply is up to their corporate heads.  We aren't holding our breathe. Little Barn is making arrangements to hire additional personnel to help.  The classrooms are adjacent to each other and are locked at night.  If you are taking two classes from the same instructor, your items can be left in the classroom and locked up for safety.  If you are changing instructors between Friday and Saturday Classes, it is just a walk across the hall, and again, your items can be locked up for safety.  I guess that's the up side to all this....the classroom contents are much safer in the upstairs since these are not rooms that are visible to the public.

Well, we knew something had to go wrong....it's been way too perfect up to this point.  So here is a picture of the infamous stairs....and a couple of classic quotes on the subject:
Becky: "Oh jeez, my knee"
PW: "Aw, ma-a-an" (beating her head on the desk and uttering other things under her breathe that we won't repeat.)
LW: Forest Gumpt said it best, "Life is like a box of chocolates.....you don't never know what you're going to get!"

1. Emails went out with supply lists for the classes.  If you didn't receive your email, let us know asap.  
2. One opening left in the beginning spinning class.  
3. Friday night the instructors will be chowing down at TGI Fridays.  If you would like to have "dinner with the instructors", let us know either by email or at registration Friday morning. We need to be able to give the restaurant a body count.  Hopefully, they can seat everyone together.

Ok.....Saturday March 15, Stefania Isaacson has agreed to teach a beginning Handspinning class during the Useful Knowledge Seminar.  Limited Space!!  Only 5 Students need apply.  This will be a spinning wheel class with a wheel provided for use.  Email me if you are interested (littlebarn (at) bellsouth.net).

Here is a link to a good friend who has finally gotten a website:  www.leinbach.rbcrafts.org  Bill is a professional weaver (yes, he actually makes a living weaving and always has!) PW spun 6000 yds of 2ply wool a couple of years ago and Bill did a reproduction of her great-great-grandmother's coverlet.  It is absolutely Beautiful!  He has started offering periodic classes for intermediate and advanced weavers using antique looms.

Handspinning for Handknitters is filled!  Thanks everyone for your support!  OOPS!!  Spoke too soon.  Merike has agreed to take extra students in this class....so if you are interested go ahead and sign up.

Classes are beginning to fill.
***If you are interested in Handspinning for Handknitters with Merike Saarniit sign up quickly--there are only a few spaces left in this class.  

Unfortunately, our favorite chinese restaurant, the Jade Palace, is closing.  Right across from the conference hotel, it was going to be our Friday night "dinner with the instructors" destination.  The owner has been in that location for 18yrs.  Recently, a large corporation offered the shopping center more money and they have evicted the Jade Palace.  Not only are we disappointed for the conference, the loss of our favorite pot stickers & lo mein, but it is also disappointing to see yet another small business go under.  We sincerely hope the fine gentleman who ran that restaurant opens up in another location.

As you know, we are open from 10am-2pm on Saturdays.  It looks like there will be folks spinning at the shop most every Saturday.  So, if you need spinning help, want to learn to spin or just want to sit and knit, Saturday is the day.

We just got Lexi Boeger's new book Intertwined for the library.  Whether you are into funky yarns or not, Lexi will broaden your vision when it comes to handspinning.  Yarns can be really difficult to photograph especially when you are trying to capture the often intricate detail that is present in Lexi's art yarns.  The photos in this book are just beyond great. Kudo's to Lexi and her crew for a project well done.

Market Update:
Tussah silk UNBLEACHED is becoming very hard to provide.  The silk mills in China are beginning to use bleached tussah as the standard fiber.  This unfortunately makes it really difficult to source the unbleached product.  It would appear this is an effort to make a more affordable version of mulberry available to clothing manufacturing.  Great for them but BAD for handspinner's who like the nice gold colored silk.

Sorry for the inconvenience.  I know a lot of you are having some connectivity issues with the site today.  Don't feel alone--we are having connectivity issues with the host server's server too.  Evidently they started an upgrade last night that dragged on into this morning.  Hopefully, things will perk up as the day wears on.....I just wish they had warned us there might be a service outage....oh, well.