my first spinning

This post has been a couple of weeks in the making. The Mafia told her version of the story and I gave a brief account too ... so now I guess I need to finish it up! Sorry for the delays.

A few of us, including the aforementined Mafia went to NHS&W last month. While we were there, Pi Grrrl dragged me kicking and screaming over to a wheel and forced me to try it out.

OK, I lied. I was a very willing participant. But I resisted the idea of getting a wheel.

Kristen had offered to lend me a wheel, and we made arrangements for a hand-off. Unfortunately, our schedules didn't mesh, so her wheel is still in her posession. However, fiber folks being the generous sort, Cheryl and Julia lent me and the Mafia some wheels. Teresa gave me some fiber -- blue, what a surprise -- and taught me how to use the wheel I ended up with ... Julia's Ashford Joy.

I learned the basics. The very basics. And managed to spin some really questionable singles! (With little twisty nubs!)

Then grad school started, and spinning stopped.

Until the Mafia convinced me that we needed to visit our local crack dealer LYS owner, Lucy.

We took a spindle (spindling?) lesson, which Lucy quickly dubbed "The Danielle and Mafia show", and she threw in some practice on the wheel just for fun.

The next week, we went back for the annual spring sale (25% off everything! and a coupon for a free drop spindle! yes I already had a drop spindle at home, shut up now!)

I pulled out some Romney roving that I purchased at MA S&W a long time ago and started spinning.

I spun up a spindle full, and with my trusty new computer I learned how to Andean Ply.

Here's my first-ever handspun yarn -- all 23 yards of it!! (I have a few more yards that I used as a test-ply ... I wanted to make sure I understood what I was doing before winding it all around my hand.) I think it's between worsted and bulky weight, according to a WPI chart.

I think I'll dye it pink, just for fun. I have a bunch more of this, and now I'm ready to go back to the wheel. It was good to spindle spin to get a better understanding of the concept of spinning, but I'm ready for more!

What should I spin next? The top 2 are from NHS&W, and the bottom is a 70/30 merino/tencel blend from Lucy. I think I'll save that one until I can spin evenly enough to make something useful ... perhaps a winter hat/mittens/scarf set?

It's a slippery slope, folks

On Sunday, I drove up to NHS&W with the Mafia and her Little Man, and a large green kid-wrangling wagon. When we got there, we hooked up with the (sadly-blogless but newly flickr-ized) Pi Grrrl.

My shopping list looked like this:

• sock blockers
• sock yarn for my Sockapalooza 4 pal
• yarn to make felted clogs for Thom
• yarn for a baby sweater for my expectant childhood best friend

Did I mention that Pi Grrrl is a spinner? As we wandered about, strolling through the Grafton Fibers booth, I may have pet a few lumps of fiber in luscious purples and blues.

Despite my cries of "I'll consider learning how to spin after I finish grad school," Pi Grrrl may have dragged me kicking and screaming gently nudged me towards a wheel. You know, just to try it out...


See that sign in the back? Yeah, that says "The Merlin Tree".*

At lunch, I may have sat down next to Cheryl and Kristen and Kellee and Teresa. Maybe.

At which point, Kristen may have engaged me in a conversation about Lyle the Louet.

After which, I may have deviated from the shopping list.



Yep, Kristen offered to let Lyle the Louet come live with me for a little while. We'll arrange a pickup at a later date, as the two of us and Lyle are currently located in three different states.

When I got home and told Thom this story, the first thing he said was "is it a travelling wheel or a regular one?" Huh? How does he even know to ask this? (The follow up commentary was "I just want to know how much space this thing will take up.")

It's a slippery slope, folks...

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* Dave knew I was a goner before I even sat down at the wheel, as I may have mentioned that I was reading The Age of Homespun by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. (In my defense, I was a history major, and one of my mentors was a colonial American historian ... it's not THAT far-fetched that I might just happen to read a book where spinning wheels are the main characters!)