Today I have spent mostly sitting at the computer watching The Loom Owner's Companion a video with Tom Knisely. I have watched numberous videos by him and his daughter Sara Bixler. Today I even ordered a Spinning 101 book by Tom. I have been doing a little spinning that I want to tell you about.
When I went to Vermont recently to visit family and friends and to attend the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival I discovered that South Royalton, the town where I was raised, was having a smaller fiber festival thant the one at Tunbridge Fair Grounds. My friends Judy, John, and I went to the SoRo event as well. It was so lovely and somewhat a relief after the crowds at VSWF five miles up the road!
On the green in South Royalton I found a vendor booth for Heron's Llyn Farm where I picked up a bump of lovely pink fiber. Since our granddaughter is a pink fan and intertested in a pink Emotional Support Chicken, (the picture here is the most recently completed chicken. It turns out grandchildren wanted chickens rather than blankets!!) I decided not to resist that fluffy ball!
Since I returned home I had a strong urging to go ahead and purchase the Dreaming Robots EEW Fold electric spinning wheel. I had planned to buy that for Dear One this spring when we were talking about new activities he might enjoy. He had not found handweaving on the Ashford SampleIt Rigid Heddle Loom intuitive and nixed that idea. We do have the blessing of that loom in the house which a friend is using to learn to weave and see if she will want to purchase her own rigid heddle loom. I have also used it for a quick sample one time and will do it again.
Dear One also tried crochet briefly but found his hands were no longer in shape to manage a hook and yarn. That was sad to me but a reality. So we thought spinning might be enjoyable but then things changed and that was not an option.
Well last week I went ahead and ordered the Fold spinning wheel (teal since they did not have the purple in stock!) which came quickly and yesterday sat down and began spinning. Of course, I do not produce a wonderful spinning result but I have a wonderful time doing it! And actually hand spun yarn should not look like commercially spun yarn so why do I say I am a bad spinner? I am not. And I am collecting a pretty good pile of skeins of yarn to either weave or knit into some useful thing.
Next week I will tell you a story about weaving...! Wait for it. It is a good story, in my view!
As I say on my YouTube channel (The Country Wife From Vermont)--Do good. Be good. Let's do it now, together.
