Spinny Linny...

That used to be my nickname as a child! Little did they all know what was to become of me!

This is my first spindle. I learned how to make it while at a fibre fair in Edmonton. The ladies there were all very surprised when I took right to it having had next to no prior experience spinning (my weaving instructor at college showed us briefly one afternoon and we each made an attempt before continuing on with our drafting assignments). I hung around the Edmonton Weaver's Guild booth all day asking a bizillion questions and oohing and ahhing over all the hand-spun silk and painted warps.

Also in the picture is my first attempt at drafting the fleece for spinning. They never taught us about this stuff at the college. We learned how to weave, and dye yarns and paint warps etc but not preparing fleece to be spun. So it was all trial and error on my part until i got something I thought might suffice.

I came home from that fair, bags loaded with some pretty hand dyed Alpaca/Merino rovings that I spun up as soon as I got home (I was so addicted already). For only my second attempts at spinning and plying, and having next to no knowledge or experience I was EXTREMELY satisfied with how it turned out. ;)

Only recently have I discovered in my readings that there is so very much more to spinning than I had imagined. I basically only knew about z and s twists, and that a strand of spun fibre is called a singles.


And this *gasp* is a few of my many bags full! Fluffy, soft, billowing clouds of happiness. I spent the whole day washing small amounts of fibre in my sink (deathly afraid that I would be too careless and felt it in the process).

The tawny lefthand bag of fibre is off Airo. He is the nicest Alpaca of the four (fairly soft, medium fine and the crimp is the strongest.. On the right is a bag of longer fibre. It's...(staple length?) about five inches. This bag was a bonus from the breeder we purchased from. I was all too happy to take it off her hands!


MacFluff's fleece is sooo soft and sooo fine that it managed to get every little particle he brushed against lodged in his locks. I am too stubborn to throw out any of it so I will painstakingly salvage every bit I can.

Also My father in law found a set of carding paddles at an auction sale not too long ago and bought them for me! I love auction sales! But the copper teeth are green at the bases and I am not sure what I should do to clean them. :P

I should mention that I am in love with visiting Sara Lamb's blog right here at blogspot. Her blog is entitled 'Woven Thoughts'. She spins and dyes silk (oh so beautiful and the colors!), makes knotted pile rugs and handbags, card weaving, and attends all sorts of neat retreats and workshops (I think she teaches as well). Anyhow she is totally awesome so if you've happened here and like what you see you should definitely cruise through her space too!

Okay there you have it! My second entry. :)

Hearts,
JQ