Back to Spinning after a Long Hiatus

My beloved Ashford Traveller Spinning Wheel:

I was fortunate to be able to buy a spinning wheel back in 2006 after I had earned a little bit of extra money doing some test knitting for a knitting book. I bought my beloved Ashford Traveller Double Drive, Double Treadle wheel at that time, and began a process of learning to spin yarn. I remember it not coming easily to me. I definitely experienced frustration, but I kept at it. Over about the course of a year, I spun various rovings and combed tops and became a bit more proficient.

Unfortunately, life got in the way, and as I become really busy with my kids' activities, I found myself too tired to spend the time at my wheel I needed to continue the process of learning. My lonely wheel sat in the corner gathering dust. 

Almost ten years later, I am ready to begin this journey again. I still have a lot to learn, but as an empty-nester, I now have the mind space and enthusiasm for the learning process again. Here are some of the spinning projects I have been working on in the last couple of weeks:

Malabrigo Nube Combed Top

A few years back, I took a class on spindle spinning and bought some Malabrigo Nube from my local LYS. I never really took to the spindle, so I almost forgot I had this fiber. Now that I have taken up spinning on my wheel again, I have been seeing a lot of beautiful photos of Malabrigo Nube spun up and began considering buying some. Luckily, I went looking through my fiber stash first to take inventory and was pleasantly surprised to see I had some!

I am finding that I still need some practice spinning Merino from combed top, but I felt like I had a better handle on it than I remember having when I tried it on the wheel with another Merino top back in 2007 or so. Here is what I ended up with after spinning some of the Malabrigo Nube:

Here it is after plying from my tensioned Lazy Kate from Ashford to make a 2-ply yarn (the yarn at the bottom of the photo -- the knitted swatch is from another yarn I spun):

As you can see my yarn isn't the prettiest yarn I have ever seen and seems over-twisted in a lot of spots. However, I decided to knit it up to see if I would like it better that way. I am fairly pleased with what I got, especially for an early try after just getting back to this:

Coopworth/Mohair Roving

Currently, I am working on spinning the large amount of remaining Coopworth/Mohair blend fiber that I have from a fiber festival purchase back in 2007 or 2008. My plan was to make a sweater from the resulting handspun yarn, so I bought 2lbs. I am not sure what I will make now, but I am having fun thinking about it and working my way through the fiber. 

I am beginning to accumulate some skeins and making progress towards my goal:

What I am finding about starting again is how much I have to learn but also how much fun the learning process can be. The important thing is for me to remember that learning any new skill takes time. I can't expect to be perfect at it right away, but I can take pride in every improvement I make along the way. 

Since my profession is teaching, I truly believe that becoming a student of a new skill is an important way for me to keep connected to my students and to be able to understand the challenges, frustrations, and successes they have along the way in their learning processes. Learning to spin is just another way for me to experience all of these aspects of being a student.

Adventures with the Drop Spindle

I have been spinning for a number of years now but always on my Ashford Traveller (Double Drive). I learned a while back and took it very seriously for awhile so that I could learn it well enough to produce decent worsted-spun, worsted weight yarn. I never became very good, but I was pleased enough with my results while knitting up the yarn that I produced to feel like I had accomplished something. I don't spin often now since my lack of time causes me to need to prioritize my crafting interests, but it is nice to know that when I do pull out my wheel, it comes back like riding a bike does.

Drop spindling is another story for me. I got one years back and tried it on a few occasions.  One of my friends gave me a quick introduction, but then I had to follow the directions in books and on You-Tube to continue learning. I never got the hang of it and felt frustrated by my apparent lack of coordination. However, last week, I noticed that my awesome LYS, River Colors, was having a drop spindle class. I signed up and enjoyed a lovely Sunday afternoon learning to drop spindle. I really struggled, but by the end of the class, I felt like I was in a bit of a flow.   The yarn I was making was very lumpy and bumpy, but since I felt like I could keep the spindle spinning while allowing some twist to travel up the fiber, I was happy. From my previous experience with the wheel, I knew that in a matter of time, I would get better and have a hard time making this kind of beginner's yarn again even if I wanted to do so (which sometimes you do if you are looking for novelty yarn). I came home and kept trying. Much to my chagrin, I didn't seem to be doing as well as I did at the lesson. Now, I am determined to keep practicing to see if I can make any progress. We shall see!

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of where I am right now drop spindling in comparison to how much progress I have made with wheel spindling:

My first yarn on the drop spindle yesterday:

My latest efforts on the drop spindle:

Some yarn and a project from my previous spinning wheel efforts (after a lot of practice):

As you can see, I have a long way to go with the drop spindle to even approximate the kind of yarn I can now make on the wheel. However, I still have a long way to go on the wheel to approximate the kind of yarn I see experienced spinners making. Whether I will ever get there with either of these crafts remains to be seen! I dream of being a true "spinner" some day, but I fear that it isn't part of my DNA in the way knitting and crochet seem to be. Those crafts came to me fairly naturally (even though I had to practice with each new technique). Spinning feels like something I have to really think hard about to make my hands and movements work in the way they should.

What are some of your experiences with spinning? Do you have any secrets to success to share?  I would love to hear from others about experiences you are having or have had.

By the way, I have continued to pick up my knitting and crocheting a little bit every day, too, making progress the way I usually do (slowly but steadily like the tortoise in the famous parable). My husband's sweater is growing slowly with the back completed and the front piece halfway completed now, the Granny Stripe afghan is also growing, and it should be ready for me to begin the edging in a couple of weeks, and finally, I continue to knit the Ivy League Vest using the two-handed stranding technique while becoming more and more comfortable with it all the time. I am really enjoying Fair Isle!

As you can see, something in me just can't stop learning. I find that to be the most exciting part of the entire process of practicing these wonderful crafts. The only thing better than learning in my book is being able to teach others. However, through continually learning something new and through the process of struggling with it, I find I become a better teacher (both of the fiber arts, but more importantly, as an English teacher and as a parent helping my children with their learning processes). One problem with this thirst to always be learning, though, is it really slows down my production time on the projects I have started already! Oh well, the fun is in the process for me, and when I do finish the product, I am happy to finally have it to wear or use.