Hello!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
DESIGNS IN FIBER

Hello - First I would like to introduce myself.

I am a 56 year old woman – born and raised in the Chicago, IL area. After some college at the University of Illinois, and then moving on into the working world including living and working in St. Louis, Mo for about 8 years - I moved out to the West - Southern California, where I have lived ever since.

Now I live in the foothills of the high desert of the Antelope Valley - north of Los Angeles. When I walk out my door, when I look south, I see the towering San Gabriel Mountains – when I look north I see the desert of the Antelope Valley. Depending on where I am and how high up I am, to the north I can see the Tehachapi Mountains and beyond that the Southern Sierra Nevada.

I feel that I am lucky to be living in this small town away from the hubbub of the larger metropolitan areas where I grew up and worked until about 7 years ago when I moved here.

My days are relatively quiet - I keep busy for sure - there still never seems to be enough time in a day - the Internet is like a window to many things going on the world. I prefer it to TV or Cable. I go into town when I feel like it and traipse around my small town - sometimes alone and sometimes with my dog and friend, Misty, who visits with the other dogs all over town - and chases birds, wild jack rabbits and mice in the still empty fields around town.

To those of you with more exciting things to do in your lives, this may seem kind of humdrum, but I never seem to have enough time to do what I enjoy and spend a lot of my time on off the Internet - my Designs In Fiber.

In 2003, I discovered the joy of crocheting with crochet thread and the designs that unfold as you crochet them.

I had been crocheting since my teens - but mostly with yarn.

Someone asked me if I did doilies - and I said I would try. Once I tried, I jumped in - I have been crocheting with thread ever since, though every once in a while I still crochet with yarn also.

I have been learning all kinds of new types of crocheting ever since - and on my blog here I will be discussing different types of crochet with different types of materials - and other fiber arts which I actually do.

I have several other favorite subjects which I will be going into at different times:

• –Our environment: biodiversity including biodiversity hotspots, forests - mostly public lands - and the philosophy of my favorite writers on the environment including Aldo Leopold and his Land Ethic and his son, Starker Leopold.
• –Photography - a hobby of mine since I was 6 years old
• –Diet, nutrition and exercise that helps me now and has for years
• –Pets!!
• –Other cultures and other parts of the planet

I will be building the different sections of my blog as I go along - I hope you gain something from looking through what I post - and if you have something to say, I only ask that even if you are outspoken, that you be considerate and tolerant. I don’t expect everyone in this world to agree - but I do believe in being honest, tolerant of others opinions and ways of life - and considerate. Sometimes people have to agree to disagree.

In this very active world that is getting more and more crowded every day - I still hope for peace and understanding between people - and one way to reach that is through communication.