This weekend is the Best of Southwest Fiber Arts Festival in Farmington, NM. You can check out more information HERE. They are having a spinning wheel raffle! If you get a chance to go and you see some public spinning, snap a shot and send it off to us!

Now for today’s Flickr Find!

This photo is from Flickr photographer electrix1. She notes:  “Hand spun wool from a drop spindle. This was the three first attempts, with progressive success.”

There are a bunch of great fiber events where you can spin, see some spinning, learn to spin…etc. and all happening this weekend. Here’s the list:

21st Annual Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival – http://www.vermontsheep.org/festival.html

Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia – http://www.fallfiberfestival.org/

Wool Festival at Taos – http://www.taoswoolfestival.org/

Lambtown USA Fiber Fair – http://www.lambtown.com/fiberfair.html

Now, for today’s amazing Flickr find!

Title: Falasha Woman Spinning Wool

This photo was taken by Flickr photographer Johan Gerrits.  It is noted that this is hear Gondar, Ethiopia.

Also – check out our new Spinterview with Debbie of Hampton Artistic Yarns here: http://www.spininpublic.com/spinterviews/?p=70

Thanks so much to Mathieu of http://www.manspun.com for sending the word about us on to Craftzine – we made their blog today – check out the article; it also showcases a couple of male spinners who spin in public all the time!

You can find the article here: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/09/two_guyz_spinning.html

And now on to today’s Flickr find!

This photo is from photographer ‘neovictorian’ on Flickr. Check out the spindle’s head – it is a faucet handle! You can find more of neovictorian’s photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/almostfamous/

There are only 12 Days left until Worldwide Spin in Public Day! So, head on over to our sister site – http://www.wwsipday.com/ and find an event near you. We are adding new events every day and I think it is going to be a very successful first year for WWSIP! Please take pictures of folks spinning and feel free to write your thoughts and experiences on the day and send them in to editor@spininpublic.com.  As with spinning, the community is what makes Spin in Public succeed as an outreach to spinners globally. We would love to hear from you and feature you!

And now a Flickr Find!

A weaver from the Zapotec town of Teotitlan del Valle Oaxaca spins wool to make yarn to weave a rug. This photo is from photographer lhuicamina on Flickr.  Check out the photostream here for more lovely photos of fibery goodness and Mexico.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing lots of spinning and enjoying the cooler weather. I invite you all to participate in a big spin-along for this weekend. We are doing it on Ravelry but for those of you either not on Ravelry or who would like to follow along here, please post a comment and share any pictures of you spinning this weekend. We would love to feature you! You can join us art yarn spinners for the Turning Leaves Spin-Along here – http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/novelty-and-art-yarn-spinners/782961

A photo found on photographer Maid Mirawyn’s photostream – Spinning in the Peachtree Handspinner’s Guild booth at the Georgia Renaissance Festival(http://www.flickr.com/photos/maidmirawyn/)

Amber Peterson was kind enough to share with us some of her photos of Beduoins spinning in Oman. You can find more of her brilliant photos on Flickr here.

Traveling in Oman, my guide took me up in the mountains to view a canyon. The canyon was a bit disappointing but the Beduoins living there were quite interesting. A trio of two women and one man were by the roadside selling their crafts. The women would make bracelets and such out of the yarn that the man would spin on his drop spindle. While the women declined to be photographed and hid behind their tent poles, the man was quite willing to demonstrate his drop spindle for me and show his skill in making that spindle dance to his efforts. he showed me the entire process from start to finish and it appeared effortless for him to produce the yarn. I purchased some brightly colored bookmarks made from his yarn. As we were leaving the area, they headed for home, and he continued using his spindle as he walked down the road. truly a craftsman.

The above photo was from an archive of photos taken in 2001 and scanned from photographer ladigue_99 on Flickr. It features 2 Peruvian girls spinning on long drop spindles. To check out more of the photos on this lovely stream, click here.

There are a couple notable events to remind you all about for this weekend!

1. Olds College Fiber Week 2009 – If you are there spinning, send us some photos!

2. Woolfest

This photo by Seligr on Flickr – this spinner was spotted walking up Edinburgh’s golden mile.

Link to images – http://www.flickr.com/photos/8865295@N02/2508628861/

Hi everyone,

We have created a group on Flickr for Spin in Public so come on over and share photos from your Flickr with us – of you or other people spinning. There are also forums over there so feel free to start some conversations. Find us here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1138019@N23/