Let me spin you a yarn...

Among the many wonderful gifts I received for Christmas was a work of art which took many, many hours to create; a hand made spinning wheel. I have been so very thrilled about it that I almost did not want to say anything because it might sund a bit much like bragging. Let me just take you back to when this began...

...I vaguely recall discussing over a bottle of wine how my father-in-law was planning to take up wood turning and how he had found a class to which my mother-in-law had said he couldn't do unless he got rid of the boat that was in his garage (she later said she didn't think he would do it but anything was better than the boat!)...and I said something like 'well, then you can make me a spinning wheel!' Not for one second thinking this would actually happen. Since then when we have visited and I had asked to see the lathe and whatever he had been working on there have been a series of reasons or interruptions so when he took me to a big box and handed me a knife on Christmas morning there was no way I could have known there would be a spinning wheel inside.

It is beautiful.

I mean stunning.

see what I mean?

So far I have sat in front of it for hours trying to get my hands and feet to work together but as yet I had not produced any yarn until my spinning class...

*Quick side note* when I told my friend about this she thought I meant the spinning which is done on stationary exercise bikes. The laughter that followed must have travelled across most of the village.

On one of my wanderings about a craft fair or something similar I remember picking up a leaflet about a local lady who spins and offers classes. After much rummaging through my craft stuff I found the safe place it had been put and gave her a call...

  My drive to the village where the instructor lives was beautiful and passed three of the distilleries on the whiksy trail on which I live. Come one, how brilliant is it that the directions were given mostly by distillery?!? There were some lovely views and if I wasn't so excited about getting to my lesson I would have stopped to take pictures...maybe next time.

I learned a lot about my new spinning wheel and what needed adjustments before I can do any spinning then for the second half of the lesson I used one of her spare wheels to spin some yarn. It was thick. It was thin. It was what we yarn crafters call 'slubby' and right now it is hanging up in my kitchen as I am setting the twist (wash then hang up with a weight attached until it is dry). Since collecting munckins from the bus stop and getting home I have been working on my spinning wheel doing all the things my instructor said so I can get another lesson booked. Every day I am now going to sit down for an hour or so just treadling and getting my wheel running smoothly.

after it dried

my first skein of yarn spun on a spinning wheel!

This has also brought me a little more insight to my drop spinning so each day I have been doing a little more of that and finally it isn't overspun or really thick. I cannot say how happy this makes me.

my top whorl drop spindle

Ashford Student Drop Spindle
In between spinning sessions I have been out in the woods with JR. He sits on the log pile and stares at me while I am splitting wood and at home he sits on the sofa and watches me using my spinning wheel.

Happy JR and happy me x

I would write more but it is cutting into my time where I could be practicing my treadling!

Hugs from haggis land,

Jx