Practice Makes Perfect, But I'm Not Quite There Yet

Today was another day with the spinning wheel.  Today saw more spinning and less "figuring".  I ended up pulling the first attempt at wheel spinning off of the bobbin and starting all over again.  Something about seeing that lumpy, bumpy, twisty mess just irked me a little too much to leave it be.  I've placed an order for a book on spinning, "Spinning for Softness and Speed" by Paula Simmons.  It has been recommended to me twice now, and soon it will be part of my library.  In the meantime, I have a book on tablet weaving to read.

As I promised yesterday, here is a picture of my wheel.

And here is a picture of my beginner spinning efforts from today.  

It looks very similar to my first attempts with a drop spindle. Over time, it will get more even.  For now, it's not too pretty.  

Tomorrow, I've got some cooking to do. Frugality rules, and a simple chicken can easily be stretched over three meals.  I will post recipes and pictures.

Spinning with a Wheel

Hello again!  Welcome to the first post of 2011.

A few weeks back, a very special Yule gift made its way to our home- a spinning wheel. While I had finally been getting the hang of spinning with a drop spindle, in order to reach our self-sufficiency goals, I will need the increased productivity that you can only get from a wheel.  The model I got is a Kromski Minstrel, a castle-style wheel and perfect for folks like me with limited floor space.   I was very surprised at just how little room this wheel requires, and it is a beautiful piece to look at.

My husband was kind enough to put the wheel together for me.  Gotta love a handy guy!  A free lesson does come with the wheel, but it has been rescheduled a couple of times now due to winter weather, and now I have another week and a half to wait.  Regardless, I've been playing with it, testing out the different mechanisms, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing, attempting to trouble-shoot my own stumbling blocks, and even getting a good stride here and there.  Thanks to the Fiber-Arts Gods for Facebook and Ravelry which provided me several social connections far more knowledgeable about spinning than I do!  And a special thanks to the many kind folks who have given their time to make YouTube videos demonstrating spinning with a wheel. 

Tomorrow, I'll post a few pictures showing the wheel and my very beginner attempts at spinning yarn with a wheel.