Spinning...spun...

I've been trying to teach myself how to spin with a drop spindle for several months now, and while I'd read about it and comprehended the basic idea of it, my results were less than stellar. Thus, my roving and spindles found themselves hibernating in a container under my bed.

On Sunday, I went to a drop spindle class with Cosy at Knit One. What a difference it makes to have someone to show you how to do something, someone to give you little bits of advice that make a huge difference in your finished product!

I'm so excited about my first tiny skeins. The one on the right is what I came home from the class with...the purple in it was my very over-spun yarn that had been on my spindle from my solo attempts, and the blue was what I spun there. Before I left for the day, I was able to ply the two together. How cool is that? The other two little skeins (which would have been one if I could get over this over-spinning issue and thus having my yarns break on me as I'm trying to ply) I did at home yesterday.

I'm spinning some Corriedale top that I bought a while back from Halcyon Yarn. I went by the description of it being good for beginners, but then I learned about staple length on Sunday, one of those little things that matters. The staple length of this fiber seems to be significantly shorter than the merino that others were using, thus affecting my ability to draft the fiber without breaking it. Still, I figure it is good for practicing with. I've got a lovely braid of merino roving that I bought in April at KnitWitz in Jacksonville...I'm anxious to try it out and see how it spins.

And thus begins a whole other obsession, I fear.

My ultimate spinning goal is to own a spinning wheel, but probably not until mid-2008. By then, I hope to get to at least one fiber festival and also to at least one vendor who has wheels on site that I can try out. Until then, I will dedicate myself to perfecting (ahem) spinning with my little drop spindle.