Spinning news

I may not have been very productive in terms of knitting, pottering around with several different projects at the same time but finishing none (and unraveling them at regular intervals). But I did some spinning! I got those fibres for my birthday and since they were just smaller quantities (ca. 50 g each) I went for it immediately.

I don't actually know for sure what type of fibres or fibre blands they are but my guess it's merino or something else on the woolly side. It was pretty easy to work with and it's so addictive!  I'm quite proud that I managed to make some progress compared to my humble beginnings in September last year - even though my twining technique still needs a lot of impovement and there is a lot of cursing involved...

The blue-greyish yarn was turned immediately into a little hat but for the green one I haven't found a good project yet. I wanted to make a triangle shawl but I'm not sure if it will be enough, could be a bit tight if I just count on that one skein. But for now I have other projects planned already so it'll have to wait a bit until I find a suitable pattern.

Now I need to un-cramp my hands and my back from hunching over the spinning wheel like an old lady from a Grimm fairytale - alas, the fibres have not turned to gold in spite of all my efforts.

First spinning results

I'm trying to make the most of the Brussels lockdown and I've taken the time to finish spinning the first batch of yarn on my new spinning wheel. Still not a masterpiece but already much better than the "rope" I made in my first spinning attempt.

I've also made some good progress on  my tweed cardigan. I'm working on the second sleeve now and I'll only have to sew on the pockets after that so I will hopefully to finish it by the end of this week.

My first spinning lesson

As a belated birthday present my mum had a surprise in stock: a week-end spinning workshop! I had already been thinking about learning to spin my own yarn for a long time but it never worked out time-wise or, in one more concrete attempt, the course was cancelled.

In principle I don't need yet another hobby and I can of course already fill my time easily with my knitting, sewing and dying projects but it's just too tempting to be able to make your own yarn! From the source to the finished sweater, everything done by myself - I think this is a useful skill and a fun project to do.

Of course, in my first spinning attempt I didn't manage to make yarn for a sweater. To be honest, it didn't even resemble yarn to begin with. Whoever thought spinning was easy, it is not. I correct myself: it is not easy in the beginning but just like with knitting it really depends on the practice. I started off with something vaguely looking like a piece of string wrapped around some fluff and in the end I managed already to produce a more or less evenly thick single which was neither too twisted or too loose. But it cost me quite a lot of sweat and perseverance!

I had a quick go at the drop spindle before getting started with the spinning wheel but the drop spindle isn't my cup of tea at all. Too fiddly and you have to kind of hold up your arms high which is very exhausting. The wheel was much better! I tried a modern Louet wheel and I was quite happy with it, once I figured out how to stop it from suddenly turning backwards *aaaaargh*. But that was more a problem of execution rather than the material.

All in all we spent a day and a half in the beautiful Belgian countryside, right next to the borders with the Netherlands and Germany (I kid you not you can walk to either country from there). The workshop was organised by Margaret who has her own sheep and took care of us including the most amazing home-cooked meals with meat from their own animals! It was basically just spinning-eating-coffee-spinning-eating-coffee all week-end long. The course was held in German but I can really recommend it for anyone who wants to get up close with some sheep and the spinning wheel, it was a lot of fun!

P.S.: Of course, now I want to have my own spinning wheel. Still negotiating with my boyfriend if the smell of unwashed sheep wool is acceptable in a city flat.