On the Path to Yarn Independence

At the beginning of this month I took a beginning spinning class. It’s not the first time I’ve attempted learning this ancient skill. The lady who taught me knitting basics also tried to teach me spinning with a spindle. Knitting and spinning were something she learned from the Inca women in her community when she was a child. She was from Bolivia, and the fact that she was passing on very old traditions meant a great deal to me. My yarn-loving mentor had been honing her skills for more than fifty years. Spinning did look easy when she was doing it. Alas, the first and only spinning lesson didn’t go very well. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was drafting the fiber that caused me the most difficulty. After 25 years, I can’t really say why I didn’t persevere with it. It might have had something to do with being brand-new to knitting. Maybe it just seemed easier to focus on one new skill at a time.

Within a year of my only spinning lesson, I got married. From that point on, I only saw my older friend occasionally. Learning to spin got put a on a back burner. (Way back) Then two years ago my dad gave me a spinning wheel he made. A few months ago I achieved the dream of owning two fiber producing cuties. It was time to make another attempt at yarn independence.

I wish I could say I took to spinning as if I’d done it all my life, but the first lesson was a little bumpier than I would have liked. That darn drafting gave me fits, again. I will say the instructor gave some very good tips for different ways to separate the fibers. I’m a firm believer that there is usually more than one way to do things. Having various options to try did help.  After some experimentation and plenty of practice, the process is starting to get a little easier. I don’t feel anywhere near ready to work with the precious bunny fiber I’ve collected so far (more on that later…), but hopefully that day will come very soon. Maybe, my older daughter will get a ball of my angora yarn in her Christmas stocking. If she’s very good.

The Project Queen