Jo Knits!

Spin baby spin,

Once upon a time, long ago, I bought myself a Lendrum spinning wheel. It arrived and I was filled with dreams of spinning all my worries away. It's not how my 1st time at the spinning wheel went... I didn't know how to draft, I was getting nowhere and very discouraged. Then I had the opportunity to sell the wheel, as luck has it, it fell through and my mom convinced me to hold on to it for a while. Today, I can finally tell her thank you for doing so! I haven't tried my spinning wheel again but I know the day is getting closer and it is really a motivator to keep spindling until I feel I will be ready to sit at the wheel.

Meet Leslie, she is my new best friend (she just hasn't realized it yet!) . Oh, have I mentioned she lives in OTTAWA??? Where I first learned to spin. Now, can you imagine my happiness that Ottawa came to me in Montreal, I just feel like it's a full circle thing. Yes, I am crazy and it is all about me but frankly, how would our two lives have connected if it weren't for the spindling class? She is a person with tons of spinning knowledge and not afraid to share it, she is a grrreat teacher if you ask me!

On a beautiful afternoon, seven knitters were set to learn to spin. The class was very informative, we got to learn a bit about the history of spinning, we drafted, we spun, we parked, we plied and we all had a ton of fun! Best of all we made yarn, I mean, I started the class skeptical... but I got bit so hard by the spinning bug. I really thought it was neat that we could all spin now, I don't know why but it was amazing. We all looked so nervous at first and then we learned, relaxed, it even felt zen in a way when we were each spinning. It was simply the best! I have been spinning almost everyday so I won't forget like when I learned this summer... I am so excited that I can finally start using up some of the substantial roving stash I already own. LOL!

The kids were really curious about learning to spin also, so while Lucas was stuck home for his laryngitis, I gave him a little spindle lesson. You can see his concentrated face, he kept forgetting to draft before letting the twist move up into the roving. Zoe had her own lesson a few days later and she really enjoyed it. I am now worried that the kids will each want a fiber stash... I really like sharing my hobbies with them though, they seem interested in what I do and it's fun to teach them.

Here's the yarn I made in the last two days, the first single was made 2 days ago and the second single and plying was done yesterday. I spun each single on the spindle before 'storing' it on bobbins of my lazy kate, then I plied the singles on the spindle and I got this, a very full spindle. LOL! I really want to knit a little something with my own handspun but haven't figured what yet. Oh, perhaps a little camera bag or just a little bag for whatnots, just to knit with my yarn really. LOL! As soon as I am done with the natural corriedale fiber, I'm jumping into colored roving. All this natural is getting just a tad boring... but then again, I'm afraid to use beautifully dyed roving and messing it up. It's really quite an experience to be creating my own yarn. I am, of course, way into being a beginner but it is just so much fun to create the yarn I will then knit. Of course, it's hard to share this with non-knitters because they simply think I've lost my mind but frankly I still have a few marbles left.

Here is the same yarn once washed and finished. I am SO proud!!!

Posted by Jo at April 3, 2008 10:32 AM