A revisit of my favourite hobby, further down the skill track. I only started spinning about 2 and 1/2 years ago but I have been able to develop my skills in a few different styles, and fine tune what I loved doing to create yarns I love using. Moving to Goulburn meant I could join the local Handspinners and Weavers group, colloquially "Spinners". This group is a wealth of social joy and shared skills. It also meant a whole new world of fibre suppliers was opened up to me. These combined to hugely expand my variety of fibre available and the different ways I could spin it.
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| A rainbow spun for a specific jumper project |
I've done bulky jumper weight down to chain plied sock yarn. So far novelty yarns aren't appealing to me, although I really appreciate reading about them and I now understand the skill level required to create them. My preferred spin is a 2ply worsted weight, or about 10ply weight, but I have been able to create yarns for specific projects which is really cool. I also now realise that certain fibres will lend themselves to a particular style or type of spinning and if you try and go against this it only leads to frustration!
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| Spinning pretty fine from Gotland pencil roving |
The other exciting thing about Spinners is that it led me to enter into the Goulburn Show, where I won a few prizes in the various categories. It also meant an impartial judge anonymously commented which was pretty helpful and interesting. The ladies at Spinners are like my crazy surrogate Grandmas. They offer an unending stream of praise and encouragement, about everything from fibre choices, spinning style, to handknitted outfit admiration. What a treat! I've had clients who are spinners and it's such a lovely community.
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| Award winning handspun baby hat! |
When I started spinning I got a small wheel, which I later worked out is called a Wee Peggy. Then, through a client, I found another second hand wheel, my Ashford Traditional. It's a much loved wheel for a reason, my favourite so far. It's beautifully constructed and easy to spin on, for high twist and more gentle yarn styles. Earlier this year I also purchased a pre-loved Sleeping Beauty. It's not quite as smooth as the Traditional but it is very lovely to look at. Moving it recently I managed to shatter the flyer so that will need to be either epoxy-ed or replaced, I'm not sure yet how I will tackle it. Shortly after it's acquisition I realised I didn't need 3 wheels and was finding the Wee Peggy a little slow for the finer spinning I enjoy, so sold it to a grateful buyer. Another client has a wheel that was entrusted to her that she would like me to look after, so of course I have to go and try it out. How many is too many?! I have 2 feet so I can have more than 1, right??
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| More fine single breed yarn. Slow going but beautiful |
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| Merino, silk and dyed alpaca locks blended on my hackles then spun for a true 3 ply |
Of course in the meantime the fibre stash continues to grow, lots of beautiful colours and types to play with. The cats enjoy playing with any I'm silly enough to leave available to them.
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