Pam, Two Pencils and Some Bailing Twine

I met Pam Harris when she took my Hands on Color class at Shakerag Workshops in 2005. At that time she didn't even know how to spin, but she came to the workshop with unbridled enthusiasm and absolutely no fear. As she put it to the group, "I ain't skeert!" That first evening of class after all the intros were over, my Yoda Sandy Sitzman and I taught Pam how to spin on a honkin' CD spindle and her world changed forever. Although her first yarn was super bulky thick and thin, the knitter in her immediately set a goal for herself to "spin skinny" and now, 4 years later, she has spun miles of yarn, a lot of it the coveted, skinny yarn.

Her enthusiasm for spinning and knitting follows her wherever she goes. Even if she is completely worn out from her day job as cook at St. Andrews Sewanee School, all you have to do is mention fibery things and she's johnnyonthespot. Last week a colleague at work wanted to learn to knit, so Pam found two pencils and some bailing twine in the kitchen and taught her how on the spot, told her what to buy to practice further, and her pupil went home that evening with newly purchased supplies and knit several inches of a scarf. Watch out folks, soon she'll be teaching the staff to spin with a potato on a skewer and dinner will have to wait!

Since I've been gearing up for the Sewanee Fall Craft Fair behind Cravens Hall, Saturday September 26, I've been seeing a lot of Pam lately. She is going to have plenty of her beautiful handspuns available in my booth that day, but she will be in person at the TACA Craft Fair at Centennial Park in Nashville that Saturday in the demo booth (I'll be there Friday and Sunday), spinning and talking to the public. This is a treat not to be missed if you are in the Nashville area.

You can also find her yarns at the new Etsy store, Handspuncentral, including the one pictured here, "Candyland". These are real knitting yarns, not "art yarns", but they certainly can transform an ordinary knitting pattern into a work of art. Use them in a Mason Dixon Log Cabin Throw (Ann Shayne is a big fan of Pam's spinning!) or my Tiny Triangle Fingerless Gloves, or just knit a scarf. The yarn speaks for itself.