Spinning

Both Ali and Rosemary asked me about spinning. I've been spinning off and on for the last eight years or so. I tried a drop spindle once - and I dropped it! I never tried it again. If I'm going to look that uncoordinated I'd rather be on roller blades.

I have an Ashford Traditional and I really love it (the white label reminds me to spin in one direction and ply in the other - duh - I can never remember otherwise!). I just haven't had much time to use it. And I'll be honest, spinning is fun but kinda of boring. Once you get the rythm and the draft right, not much changes.

But I'm looking forward to spinning the rest of the tote bag because:
1. I have a drum carder
2. I have "Spinning in Color" by Deb Menz
So rather than just do boring one color spinning, I'm going to run some of those bright easter egg dyed rovings through the drum carder together and see what comes out.

And spinning isn't hard. Just takes a certain amount of coordination and practice (like roller blading only safer). For my first piece of practice spinning, I got some soft white roving. And spun it into a very trendy (at the time) thick and thicker handspun. I then dyed parts of it with kool-aid. If that humiliation wasn't enough, I knitted it up into slipper socks for ME! I absolutely love them. They're ugly, warm, soft, comfortable, and make great bed socks in those years when we actually have cold weather.

Did I mention ugly?!?! But I'm kind of proud of them. This was my first bit of spinning, pretty much self taught, and my first attempt at dying yarn. I really needed to make it into something useable to prove the wheel was SOMETHING I WOULD USE.

But we live in Oklahoma, not exactly a "wool-wearing weather" part of the country so I spin but I don't knit with it too much (I have one sweater I've made from my own handspun). I just fill up boxes with roving and handspun yarn. But if the ice age ever comes back, I'll be ready.