On Wednesday Linda from my knitting group taught me how to spin using a drop spindle. Boy, did I feel like a klutz. However, she told me I was doing fine and to keep practicing.
She sent me home with a spindle and some roving and I’ve been practicing a couple times a day.
Yesterday I was actually able to roll off a ball of yarn. It’s pretty ragged and uneven, and you can see from the picture that the ball of yarn is not much bigger than a US quarter.
But I’ve been trying the different techniques she showed me, and yesterday I made even more progress. Still pretty uneven but I’m having more and more moments when I think I can actually feel how it’s supposed to be. Hopefully the next ball will be a little larger.
Tomorrow I’m heading up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for their Fiber Festival with Laura and Meredith from knitting group. I’m going to be on the lookout for spindles and fibers. I’m hoping for better weather than we’ve had here in Taos the last couple of days. It’s been cold, wet, and windy.
I finished the embroidery on the cover for the journal I’m making for the May TIF challenge. It’s been hard getting any pictures to turn out well of this piece. I had to tilt it at an angle so the colors and stitching would show better. But the pictures are still not a very accurate representation.
That looks neat. The beads really set off the shapes nicely.
Congrats on your first ball of spun yarn! Might I suggest that you keep this first ball … as you practice more and get better at it, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come! And just hink how expensive the designer yarns are that have all this texture …
I was just at a renaissance faire last weekend, and in one of their historical booths they had flax and wool and a drop spindle and actual wheel. I had an interesting conversation with the gentleman in the booth about making cloth in the ren period. He talked about how 3 or every 4 hours of labor went just to making their clothing, men would use a drop spindle while working in the fields. I wish I had asked for a demonstration, cause I can’t picture how that would be possible.
I am loving your TIF piece. This one really speaks to me, and I wish I could see it in person.
Your TIf piece is very subtle, but the central shape gives it punch and movement.The embroidery ties all together very well.
And now, back to spinning
neki desu