Hey look! I'm alive! Ravelry kept me busy for a full year and a half, but it's about time I get back to blogging. If anyone's out there, hi! Welcome! Comment so I'll remember to blog more.
Two very special packages arrived today. I'll start with the less exciting one:
... which is actually pretty exciting. A large order from Spunky Eclectic (which took me about four hours to get due to everyone overloading the site when Amy updated). From left to right there are 4 oz braids of: Organic Merino in Lucas, Shetland in Brain Freeze, Orchard, and Mandy, and Panda in Burning Ember.The reason that is the less exciting package? See what else came:
MY FIRST WHEEL!!!!! A double treadle Ashford Joy I ordered from Carol over at Sheep Shed Studios. I'm a little excited in case you can't tell.
Anyone who's seen all the fiber I've ordered this week has probably figured out that I think this wheel is going to make spinning faster. However, I was living under the happy delusion that after mastering the drop spindle the wheel would be a breeze.
I was a tad bit wrong. Like learning to spin on a drop spindle, knit for the first time, ect, it feels like you're an elephant trying to do ballet. Awkward. There's all this.... stuff... going on. The wheel turns. It turns two ways actually, and it's easy to mix up which way it's supposed to be going. The flyer... moves. Yarn falls off the hooks. The leader gets sucked through the orafice, sans fiber.
All this produces:
Lumpy bumpy "why-no-I've-never-spun-before-even-on-a-spindle" yarn.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you. After all, it's a spinning wheel. A spinning wheel I wouldn't have been able to afford without what I affectionately call "The Bank of Mommy*" (*The Bank of Mommy not available in all areas. Subject to exceptions. Interest may include cleaning of bathrooms) However, I guess I had some unrealistic exceptions.
Tomorrow will be a new day, a day I can spend most of spinning on my new wheel (which needs a name, btw. Suggestions, anyone?).
Maybe I'll master drafting on the wheel before the other two packages of fiber I'm getting arrive.
3 comments:
You know it is a good day when all that awesome fiber is your least exciting package of the day :)
You'll be amazed how quickly you'll pick up spinning on the wheel. It is different than spindle spinning, but it won't take long. I started on a wheel and picked it up quickly, but it was worth learning to use the drop spindle (even if I really did learn why they are called *drop* spindles a few times :)
The most useful thing for me was hanging out with my mom's spinning guild and watching the other ladies spin. I found just observing their rhythm and such was really the best learning aid. It was also really informative to see how many different ways of spinning will create beautiful yarns - there really is no *right* way.
You lucky girl!!! I want a Joy to but it's a littler further down on my fiber goody wish list.......drum carder at the top. You are going to have sooooo much fun with this and that roving is gorgeous. When I got my wheel I started by taking some old junk acrylic yarn (it is good for something) and spinning it just to get used to treadling etc before I started to spin with roving and learn how to draft. I have to learn one thing at a time and then put them all together..........I can't chew gum and walk at the same time either ;) You're right, you should give her a name. Something that suits her personality. My wheel is a vintage Ashford Traditional, not super pretty but sturdy and dependable. I named her Ethel, hence my yarn swift got dubbed Fred ;)
Oh! By junk acrylic yarn I mean that skein that most of us have that is an atrocious color and is older than we are (probably burn orange, tupperware gold, or avacado green) but its yarn and we're addicted so we don't throw it out even though we'd never make anything with it. Yeah, I'm addicted ;)
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