Spin Frenzy...

I've been a tad busy trying to fit spinning into my day-to-day routine. Some things have falllen by the wayside. Reading. Don't really do that anymore. Audiobooks are the way to go. You can knit, spin, type, eat, and sleep... all with an audiobook. One of those luxuries that makes me embrace technology.

I made my way up to Navasota, TX a couple of weeks ago to participate in a "How to Use A Drop-Spindle" workshop. I know it's easy, but there was something I just didn't "get". Like, coordination. It was worth the drive to learn two words that made everything clear... pinch and pull. Or... pinchworm-it. A language that made sense to me and sent me off on a spin-frenzy. The workshop was held at WC Mercantile and Sue Ellen was the teacher. Brilliant. She was informative, patient, and very witty.

As a result of my little trip to Navasota, I ended up purchasing tons of fiber and several colors of Jacquard dye. I came home, eager to transfer my drop-spindle success to the spinning wheel. Took an entire evening to get the tension, treadling, coordination and all that spin-stuff down, but I did it... finally! I practiced on a BFL top, "Daisy", a pale green and bright yellow. It's an interesting little skein of mostly overspun and plyed wool. I then turned my attention to a plain-jane white merino top. By the third bobbin, I was feeling pretty cocky. A little better than the Daisy skein. Once I scraped it off the niddy-noddy, I was very grateful that overspun is in style at the moment. Progress... not perfection.

Both, the Daisy BFL and the plain-jane merino top came from Flying Wright Farms. FWF is operated by the owner of WC Mercantile. If you ever find yourself in TX on a fiber trip, take time to visit their store. Very nice people and very helpful.