Since the last time I picked up a spindle kit in May 2008, I must admit, I haven’t attempted spinning since. I can say that I’ve been busy with other knitting projects, but deep down, there is only one reason: the home-made yarn was lumpy, frumpy, and down right ugly.
Fast foward to the Fiber Festival in Torrance last Sunday, and all of a sudden, I was swayed once again. This time around, I picked up a new spindle from the Custom Handweaving booth, and was determined to give spinning another go.
Enter Exhibit A - the bird’s nest.
The darn bird’s nest is so ugly that I don’t even want to show it “big”. Frustrated by the fruits of my labor, I started reading up on every single handspindling post on Ravelry. It seems that the general consensus is to keep at it, until one day, lightning strikes you up side the head and you’ll just “get it”. Really? Well I must be horribly dense because you know what? I’m not getting it. Fortunately, the advantage of reading Ravelry forums is that people keep posting beautiful pictures of their spindle collections (I’ll explain how this is a fortunate turn of events in the next few sentences). And in particular, the awesomeness of Golding spindles. So I called my friend Bobby, who unfortunately has moved away from California to DC, telling him that I would like to collect the winnings of our bet. You see, back in September when we attended the Beck concert at Hollywood Bowl, he and I had a little bet on whether or not Beck would perform “Debra”. He was adamant that he would, and I said no. We agreed that the wager would be around $70 — the price of a new pair of earbuds from Mac. Suffice to say that I won, and I want a new Golding spindle.
Within 30 minutes of its arrival since Friday, I was spinning thin strands of yarn. Hello? Thin, improved-uniformity strands of yarn. Then I realized in that very moment that I, self-proclaimed enemy of spindling, has “gotten it”. 2 days later, my little Golding is full. My friends, it’s all in the spindle. Quality tools make for quality spinning. I believe that firmly, and it is with this belief that I will justify all future purchases of additional Golding spindles. And to prove that I really really got it, I went back to the other spindle and tried it with a different fiber.
Enter Exhibit C - mystery spindle from Custom Handweaving, much much heavier spindle.
By golly, spindling is FUN! Unforunately, I did find that the 2 fibers that I have at home (both corriedale — cheaply bought from etsy) are somewhat felted in various spots, making the drafting and spinning process somewhat less pleasurable than it could be. My ultimate goal is to advance to spinning enough merino for a pair of socks. Of course, this means that I will need to learn how to ply… but we’ll talk about that much later because I haven’t the slightest clue what the difference is between Navajo plying and just normal 2-ply.
And lest you think that I have gone over to the dark side and abandoned knitting, you are sorely mistaken. But we’ll save that for another day, because it’s so very close to being a FO.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Looks good!
November 10th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
your spinning looks great! and i’m so bummed i forgot about the fiber festival in Torrance - I really meant to go. and i was at that beck concert too! our worlds are *almost* colliding…
November 10th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
It looks really good! Welcome to the dark side.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
good to know to go golding when i do go to the dark side. i had my hands deep in a bag a clouds of alpaca this weekend and it was oh so tempting to take it home. it does not help to have spinning friends that try to convince me to try each time we meet up to knit…and rav, well, rav can make you do anything.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:51 am
looks like great fun! i have never tried spinning- actually we did some in preschool, which is so long ago it doesnt count
- but i am still getting into the knitting thing.. very slowly i might add… finding this very inspiring. maybe when i’m big (in kitting terms) i will try spinning too
looking forward to your fo’s
November 11th, 2008 at 2:13 am
oohhh pretty spindle. Wow, that’s a huge chunk of change! Glad it’s working out for ya. I totally agree with your rationale. If something is gonna be pricey and it works better and makes you happy, heck yeah, it’s worth the purchase.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I feel the same way about my Golding - I just got it and now I’m spinning
I love the way your yarn is turning out - next stop, wheel?
November 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Aha! You’re spinning! Yay! You’re inspiring me to pick up my spindle again.
Oh and I so wanted to go to that Beck concert at the Bowl, but we were off, oh I don’t know, getting married or something.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Nice looking yarn. I like my Louet spindle ok. I’m going to try for the wheel spinning soon.
November 11th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
yay! Looking very good, too! And now I want a Golding spindle.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Sweet success! Although I do think the bird’s nest is kind of cute. Like, put some of those little fake blue eggs in it and voila. Home decor!
December 17th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Yay! So glad that you have joined the ranks of us spinners. I spin in fits and spurts and knit continually, but when I do spin I really love it. You will too, and we will teach you how to ply - no worries!