I've actively resisted spinning. Yes, the spindles were pretty. Yes, the handspun was beautiful. But no, I didn't need to do it myself. I am perfectly happy letting others raise the sheep, sheer the wool, clean it, dye it, spin it. I like being further up this food chain: buying the yarn and knitting it into something nice.
But stupid WonderMike had to open the door, and Abby Franquemont slipped in, with her engaging and witty Ravelry persona and her terrific Intro to Spinning video on YouTube. Her simple explanation -- spinning is just pulling apart fiber and twisting it so it holds together; use a stick to hold the yarn and make things go faster -- was irresistible to me. And her book! Oh my god, her book. I love a funny, smart woman talking to me about the physics of yarn. And she blew my mind by pointing out that spindles are responsible for nearly all human textile production up until about 400 years ago.So a week ago, I took a class.
I'm not very good, but I don't expect to be. Abby (and others) argue that learning to spin involves developing muscle memory, and that if I keep practicing a little each day, I'll get it in about a month or two.
The result so far:
That's what became of the roving I got in class. Now I'm getting serious with some dyed combed top that I bought at a local store.
So I'll give it a couple months, working at it every day. If it doesn't click by spring, I'll drop it. And if it does click, I'll probably still drop it: I like to knit things, not make yarn. I'm not interested in owning a wheel. (If I'm buying equipment, I'd rather it was a circular sock machine).
But meanwhile, I think I'm learning a lot about yarn. And I've got an excuse now to look at the spindles at the wool festivals.
5 comments:
If you continue, you get goodies from others to spin up. Just sayin'. (wink) You also get unique yarns for your sock lab.
...and you can take out nosy princesses with one prick of your death spindle.
A circular sock machine would be really really cool.
Abby etc are right, Don. I've only been spinning about 3 months and am knitting my first handspun socks now. 10 minutes at day is all it takes. I have a merino/silk blend on one of my 7 spindles and the same of another color on my Kiwi wheel.
Hang in there - you'll love it before long.
Oh, how great that you are taking up spinning! I love it. And I really like my spindle. I seem to do a lot more on the spindle than on any of the wheels. I am knitting some socks right now out of my own hand-spun spindle yarn. And it is really nice! I'm so impressed by my yarn... the socks are going to be great. Pics coming on the blog; some pics on my Picassa album.
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