Spinning!
It has been a busy week around here, filled with shopping, socializing, and a flurry of other activity.
My birthday turned out lovely and just as special as I was hoping it would. My mother and I ventured into downtown Gilroy to do a little shopping at several of the antique shops in the area. There were lots of interesting and wonderful things to see and we had a great time together. Although I didn’t find anything that I had to have, I did end up with a very cute black sheep doll that I now have displayed on one of my bookshelves. I love to hunt around in antique, consignment, and thrift shops simply because you never know what they’re going to have and sometimes you can find special little treasures.
After the shopping excursion, there was lots of good food and enjoyable company…. and, best of all, chocolate kahlua cheescake. Yum!
Because I didn’t end up finding my birthday presents in any of the shops we went to, my mother ended up buying my present online instead. It arrived a little earlier this week and inside the box was the Ashford top-whorl drop spindle set I’ve been lusting after for a while and a generous 19 ounces of pure merino top.
To get started, I watched a few tutorial videos on Youtube and finally settled with a technique that seemed easy to emulate. After a bit of practice with some scrap yarn I had on hand, I decided to give it a go with a little bit of the top. My first attempt was horrid… I made the mistake of trying to prepare the fiber while spinning it. The resulting “yarn” was an uneven mess. After watching a few more videos, I gave it a second go around and was much happier with my results. It was a bit slubby (almost like Noro yarns), but I was still getting viable, knittable yarn. My third attempt was even better; somewhat consistent without as much slub.
Spinning with a drop spindle is a lot simpler than I was expecting it to be. I will obviously need a lot more practice to get a consistent, even yarn, but getting to that point will be a thrilling process. There are lots of techniques for me to try out, so I’m pretty sure there will always be something new to learn once I’ve “mastered” one way of doing things. Most of all, though, I just really look forward to being able to knit with my own handspun, hand-dyed yarn.
