WeaveCast: Backstage

Today was wonderful. One of those days filled with happy synchronicities. I went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Large Animal Research Station. My goal: to see qiviut on the hoof and interview Sandy Garbowski, musk ox wrangler, qiviut expert, and heck of a cool lady.

Musk ox are amazingly tiny, see how I'm looking down in the pictures of these cuties? The were only about three feet high at the shoulders, not the six-to-seven feet tall I'd imagined.



One of the highlights of the interview? See that? That's a garbage-sack worth of qiviut spread out before me. And then Sandy went looking for the highly-advanced tool that they use to comb out the qiviut, and turned her back...



I grabbed up the entire pile and ran pell-mell for the hills, microphone trailing behind me kept my hands jammed firmly in my pockets the whole time.

The high-tech tool used to harvest qiviut?



Afterwards I walked five-ish miles in 90-degree heat to reach A Weaver's Yarn, a delightful LYS run out of the bottom of the owners' house. Well worth the trek. All those stories you hear about Alaskan hospitality: all true.

More about that visit later, it's past midnight and I need to pack.

Alaska! (Extra credit if you recognized Denali State Park.)

It's a mini-family reunion in honor of Eric's parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

Eric, got the answer to his question, "Is there anywhere you won't knit/weave/spin?"



Yes, I am knitting, not weaving. A sock is my current carry project, fits in my purse, less bulky than an inkle loom, and well...woven socks, just not pretty. For the curious, it's Tofusies, basic 2x2 rib patterned cuff which will carry on into the top of the foot.

Tomorrow's adventure? I got permission to interview here. Big kudos to the publicity staff member who got my last-minute recoding request green-lighted. She is my hero-of-the-day!

Happy Weaving!

Syne