I've been a little lax in blogging recently, primarily because I work at a computer all day and I am trying hard not to be tied to it at home too. But fear not, I have not been neglecting my blogworthy crafts, so today I bring to you my very first (well, this time round) bit of spinning wheel spinning.
The story goes something like this - a few years ago when i was working at york, I toddled along to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate, and was persuaded by some very nice Shetlanders (from Jamieson & Smith) that spindle spinning would be great fun, and here, have half a sheep's worth of Shetland combed top to get you going, and 500g of Wensleydale. So I gave it a go and thought it fun. Then a friend at work mentioned that she was in the local Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers and would I like to come along and have a go on her spinning wheel? So I did, and Lo! it was more fun and less hard on the arms (admittedly, after my first go on it one of the legs (of the wheel) broke, but that was apparently not normal and not my fault either!). Then the lovely friend moved to a remote scottish island, proclaimed that she had never got to grips with the wheel anyway, and bequeathed it to me. Hooray!
Then (are you keeping up?) I moved house, twice, and never seemed to find the time to get spinning again. Along the way I acquired a jacob fleece, a bog standard sheep fleece, and two from a Wensleydale/Jacob hybrid creature, all of which are sitting under the stairs smelling sheepy.
Finally, last weekend I was looking at the blogs of my ISE5 secret pals (as a hostess I feel obliged to look out for their blogging wellbeing, and came across this post. Well, there was nothing for it - I snapped. "Spin" I cried, "I must spin or be damned. Just call me Sleeping" (or something like that.
Inevitably, events overcame me (mostly housework, as per usual), but I finally got 5 minutes to myself, and reinitiated myself into the art of the humble wheel. And this is the result:
A small picture for a very waffly post, but I am quite pleased that having only had one spinning lesson I can produce something that, if you squint, could possibly resemble wool.
Roll on next weekend and I'll be churning out skeins of the stuff! (ever the optimist)
2 comments:
Hello Crafty Librarian. I did not realise you were a boss of the ISE5 - how exciting! You are just the one who may be able to answer my question - how do I get the button for ISE5 to put on my page?
Would love to hear from you if you have a minute.
Many thanks,
Well, that is more than I produced in my first week of spinning hehehe. On Fair Isle (where I learned to spin) I could be heard swearing all over the place that it was something I was destined never to learn... and now, mere 4 months later I've just bought my second wheel :)
Cheers Eva
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