I was originally going to write a long post about cashmere early this morning, but the events of this day kind of put fiber and posting on the back burner. I will write a little about the cashmere and a little more about our day.
Cashmere.......it's a wonderful experience. Last week as I took some time to visit with my big lendrum girl, I pulled these 3 different balls of cashmere roving out of the basket. Each one of these were purchased from different vendors and each one was very different than the next.
The skein to the far right was purchased at NH Sheep and Wool and let me tell you, I so wish I had grabbed one of this vendor's cards as it was by far the best cashmere I have ever spun. For any of you out there who have spun cashmere, you know just how short those fibers can be. I'm talking less than an inch. If there is another method of spinning it other than inchworming along, it is beyond my capability. This roving however was so wonderfully prepared that it made the spinning pure joy. If any of you out there know who the man was that was selling little bags of cashmere for 12.00 an ounce, give me a shout :-)
The white cashmere was purchased at Rhinebeck from Galina and this too was a pleasant roving to spin. Not quite as smooth as the one to the right and a bit ramy smelling, but still nice.
The last skein to the left was also in roving form, but not quite as nice to spin, which surprised me given where it came from. A lot more neps, very ramy smelling and a bit coarser, which of course was still pretty soft considering it is cashmere. Hopefully a long soak in a bubble bath will cure the ramminess :-)
I have a bit more of the white so while I am spinning on my big girl, I will be contemplating what to do with these lovely cashmere skeins :-)
....................... and now the sad part of the day. Last week I saw a commercial on tv that kind of stuck with me today. I don't remember what the advertisement was for, but each person in this commercial casually makes a comment similar to " In 2 hours I am going to be in a car accident" or "on my way to work, I will be killed by someone who runs a red light, etc."
Earlier today, 3 people were shot in our little town. 2 of them are dead and one is in critical condition. This all happened about a mile from my house in the store that my daughter's ex-husband was the assistant manager of until just 2 weeks ago. The only thing that we do know is that the manager, who was also a friend to Stacey and Dan was one of the men killed. This happened shortly before the store opened. This man, has a wife and 2 small children and today was just another day........but then again it was not.
In spite of state troopers, police, sheriffs and helicopters searching, the shooter was not apprehended and is still at large. Everyone in the village was asked to stay in their homes with the doors locked while they searched for this man. As I sat in my house, on the unusually quiet street, listening to the drone of the helicopter most of the day, I thought about that commercial and just how fragile life is.
So if you think of it in your quiet time this evening, please say a prayer for the families of these people and an extra prayer that they find this man who caused such havoc in the lives of good people.
