The knit-in at Whit Robbins' home last Saturday was a great success. Guild members got a chance to meet
Cheryl Oberle and hear about the
Snow Leopard Trust from one of their representatives, Siri. On top of that, we got to eat delicious food, knit, and chat with our friends. A truly perfect evening!
Cheryl shared some recent experiences, including spending two weeks at the
John C. Campbell Folk School. She also signed some books, and told us that her husband creates the linocuts found on her books. On Cheryl's needles was a multi-directional scarf in
Noro sock yarn.
Siri joined us shortly before 8 pm, because she was busy minding a Snow Leopard Trust booth at the
Alive Expo earlier in the day. She told us about the history of the Snow Leopard Trust, their research to learn more about snow leopards, and how yarn and felt help conserve the
snow leopard population. Snow leopards are killed for two main reasons: first, for food and traditional medicine ingredients, and second, in retaliation for killing herd animals. If the herders have other ways of getting food and money, they won't kill the snow leopards for their meat, pelt, and bones. And if they have enough money to provide for their families, they don't feel the need to retaliate when a snow leopard kills one of their herd.
To help herders improve their economic situation, the Snow Leopard Trust has taught them to spin high-quality yarn, and then buys that
yarn at a fair price. Siri told us about a Mongolian woman who was spinning with a drop spindle made out of an old spoon when they first contacted the herders. Now women can take out microloans for
spinning wheels. The women also make felt, and then make
slippers,
booties,
ornaments,
hats,
glasses cases,
toys, and many
other things out of the felt.
Siri brought several lovely items that the Snow Leopard Trust sells. She brought several skeins of hand-spun and hand-dyed camel yarn in brilliant jewel tones. She also brought some undyed yak yarn. Both yarns were soft, but the camel yarn was surprisingly downy. The herders had never tried spinning yak yarn - and so they have found a new source of income that they never had before. Siri also brought the aforementioned felt items - baby booties, mouse-shaped cat toys, and ornaments. She told us the two ways that felt is made - by several women wetting and manually kneading the wool, or more traditionally, rolling it up in a mat and
dragging it behind a horse. She showed us an album with several photographs of Mongolian and Kyrgyzstani women preparing the wool (by whipping it), spinning it, and turning it into felt, in and around their yurts.
Everyone had a fantastic time - we learned from a knitting master and discovered a new aspect of knitting that we had never thought of before.
The Summer 2009 Knitter's magazine has arrived. This one is particularly Atlanta-friendly, and not just because the models were photographed here. Our knitted flowers are featured in the article "Atlanta Blooms" on pages 6-7. Also, local resident Betty Salpekar features prominently in the long article about the Think Outside the SOX contest. If you are going to sit back and read a little as well as knit, then here's some happy reading material.
Our friends at Cascade Yarns -- one of the sponsors of STITCHES South -- have graciously donated 52 skeins of Cascade 220 Wool, Cascade 220 Heathers, and Cascade 220 Superwash to our helmet liner initiative. This is in addition to the many, many skeins they have donated previously. In turn, AKG has donated more than 400 helmet liners to our armed services. Thank you Cascade Yarns for your generosity to us and to our armed forces!
Siri brought several lovely items that the Snow Leopard Trust sells. She brought several skeins of hand-spun and hand-dyed camel yarn in brilliant jewel tones. She also brought some undyed yak yarn. Both yarns were soft, but the camel yarn was surprisingly downy. The herders had never tried spinning yak yarn - and so they have found a new source of income that they never had before. Siri also brought the aforementioned felt items - baby booties, mouse-shaped cat toys, and ornaments. She told us the two ways that felt is made - by several women wetting and manually kneading the wool, or more traditionally, rolling it up in a mat and dragging it behind a horse. She showed us an album with several photographs of Mongolian and Kyrgyzstani women preparing the wool (by whipping it), spinning it, and turning it into felt, in and around their yurts.
