Notes on Beginning Spinning

Wait (!), isn't this a knitting blog? Well, not strictly, it seems. That's the thing about fibre crafts, they're pretty addictive. Once you start using this fuzzy, warm string in one way, you are naturally led to other ways to use and then make the stuff, settling into new hobbies as you discover the ones you like. Also, that's why I adopted the handle "Ellen Stays Warm", as opposed to "Ellen Knits" or something, because really the aim of the game is to keep myself occupied with warmth-generating activities. 

Firstly, a short spinning timeline. In December, I ordered a $15 drop spindle to try and do something with a small amount of alpaca fleece I was gifted after helping restrain the alpacas for shearing. Side note: if you ever have a chance to help with any shearing, take it! My drop spindle days were enjoyable but fairly short-it was summer, the fleece I had was dusty and difficult to spin (completely unprocessed) and then I went away on placements. 

Tricky, but beautiful

Before I left though, a good friend told me they were looking to sell their family's spinning wheels, of which there were 3. I chose her mum's, a lovely upright wheel with a bunch of bobbins. It remained at their place for several months while I traveled, and during that time she (the mum) agreed to swap me the wheel for a jumper knitted by me-perfect! I finally collected the wheel in April but didn't get a chance to try it out until June. In the interim, I purchased some stunning Adagio Mills roving, in the special blend "Hidden Gold", and some hand-dyed Merino from my exciting new local yarn store Coastal Yarn Traders. Both were stunningly soft and beautifully coloured, but completely different. 

This is the Adagio Mills roving

Fast forward to June, and I finally finally had a chance to get into some spinning. I made yarn! How thrilling! How difficult and sometimes frustrating! Eventually, I realised the real trick was in the pre draft, and maybe even a pre-pre draft. I plied the alpaca and also kept doing small amounts with my original chocolatey alpaca fleece, and had 2 small skeins of unwashed single ply merino hanging in the laundry. 

Yarn!

I was lucky enough to be gifted some incredible alpaca fleeces through a friend who kindly organised and transported them from the Adelaide Hills to Wagga, and then they languished in my garage until this week. 3 fleeces, all very different and very beautiful. I've mainly been working on a caramel hued one so far, brushing the dirt and grassy bits from it, and thanks to some awesome advice have been making rolags and I've nearly got a whole bobbin!

Adagio Mills + original alpaca fleece, 2 ply

Next is to learn to chain ply, once I've spun a couple more bobbins, and then keep going onto the next ones! How lucky am I! (And, I started the repayment jumper this week). I've made an instagram stories highlight of my spinning so far, if you'd like to have a bit more of a look. 

Have you ever seen spinning? Are you a spinner? I'd love any hints or tricks you can offer-I'm still such a baby beginner at this! Hope you're catching some winter sun and staying warm-Ellen.