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The World According to Esther

Workshoping and Asheville Shenanigans with Lexi

I know I’m going to have more than a good time when my great friend Lexi Boeger of Pluckyfluff fame comes to town!! I’d just come home from teaching at the Tropical Flordia Weavers Guild annual retreat, but I grabbed the wine, hopped in the car and headed up to Asheville for some good Boeger fun!

This class was Lexi’s traveling workshop for 2014, and it was a blow out for sure! There were over 50 people enrolled and after I picked her up downtown, we set up the Folk Arts Center auditorium for the masses of wheels that would be coming in later.  The FAC is a great place for a workshop with a beautiful setting on the Blue Ridge parkway and a lovely exhibition of artists inside.
998858_10202348719737860_1754225357_n We set ourselves up at opposite ends, I got my fiber table set up and we headed to eat at one of my favorite joints in town, White Duck Taco.  We started the weekend right with amazing food and a few margaritas and sangria..

After a walk downtown- of course Lexi found the BEST thrift shop downtown where for $60 I got a killer pair of 2toned cowboy boots and a leather jacket.. HOW does she find the best thrift stores in less than 24 hours.. and I’ve been coming to Asheville for YEARS! We walked around downtown, waved at the drum circle and had dinner and beers at Wicked Weed Brewery. Then a few dessert drinks at the “Rhum” bar  around the corner (because it’s Asheville, so there’s a H in rum) and we were ready to get some zzz’s for the next day’s workshop…
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The next day the wheels arrived! The room quickly filled with spinners and fiber and wheels and sparkles and ENERGY! This is the best part of a workshop, is the amazing creative energy that swirls around enveloping everyone.
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_MG_7097 (Large)Lexi started the day with some carding and then brought everyone back to the wheel for spinning demo’s.  It didn’t take long for people to skip back to their wheels and the mass tables of carders to start creating their own magical spins.   There was ample “sharing fiber” and LOTS of carders for everyone to play with.  Lexi taught a few more techniques after lunch and everyone went home with that sparkly “glazed face” of inspiration.

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_MG_7078 (Large)Lexi and I don’t get to hang out as much as we’d like, living across the country from eachother.  We dipped into some of her family’s super amazing wine and put on our sparkliest outfits for a night on the town..
We enjoyed the drinks at Storm Rhum bar and found it serving a lovely menu, so we headed back there. We ate a great meal and enjoyed a few more drinks.
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We finished the evening at a moonshine bar (COME ON.. It’s ASHEVILLE! of COURSE it’s hipster enough to have a new moonshine bar!) but even wrapped in a pretty bow with an expensive price, moonshine is still moonshine (GROSS!!)
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The next day went similar to the first. Carding and spinning and sharing tricks and techniques. Everyone was super excited when the new Majacraft Overdrive head came out to play! Usually Lexi’s “coilboil” (chain ply super coils) FILL the bobbin, and what Lexi spun didn’t even make a dent in the huge capacity! _MG_7128 (Large)
I taught my silk wrapping technique and the students coiled and plied. Before we knew it, the time had come to pack up and sweep the floors.

After a super yummy dinner and beers at UJ (because YUM, it’s UJ!!) we headed over to Friends and Fiberworks to see the new location. 1795547_10202363368464069_724775898_nIt’s not a visit to Asheville without seeing Lisa and everyone at the shop! We rolled up and I was shocked and THRILLED to see a photo of my yarn on the window of the shop!

What a great surprise!  We hung out there for awhile sharing the laughs and picking up a few awesome cones of funky yarns (Lisa is the queen of funky yarns) and then we were headed back to our hotel to pack and force sleep since Lexi had a sunrise flight out in the morning.

As always.. the time goes by too fast and before we know it, the airport beckons. Lexi is having one more away workshop this year, in June in CT. She’s having a workshop at her studio in Placerville my birthday weekend in Sept.. you might just find me there.
Here’s a few more photos from the Asheville workshop…
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