Learning to spin has been such an adventure. As a knitter I have been  making “knits” and “purls” for the last five years and while it will always be my first love it has been really exciting to do something completely from scratch. I now realize how many things I have taken for granted in learning a tactile fiber art. It is hard to know how much pressure you should apply, how you can get a consistent result, and managing new tools and equipment.

I have resisted spinning for so long and now find it meditative and educational. I had been feeling like I was  making some progress on the last couple of  yarns I had spun up  so I  decided to mix things up by playing with some new fibers yesterday…. Well, it was a good lesson in “what not to do” and how much I can improve ( we don’t need to talk about what happened with super wash merino).

I took a couple of pictures of some Hedgehog Fibre’s Silky Merino. I had not spun with a fiber with silk content but decided to give it a go ( I must reduce my fiber stash!)  I didn’t prep the fiber  before spinning it on to the first bobbin and will likely throw it away. It was extremely hard to control how much fiber to pull and was very inconstant ( It was frustrating and not very motivating).

I thought I might have bitten off more than I could chew, so I changed bobbins and gave it another go trying to prep the fiber before I spun… and surprise it turned out better. I had an inkling that I should have prepped before I started to spinning….. but thought “let’s give it a go!” I think next time I am going to listen to my instincts.