Back to (almost) normal
The days of festivities went pretty well in this neck of the woods. Those who were in hospital were out of it in time to not have to spend the season in the ward, we are now properly installed and comfy downstairs (well, we could do with some more and more suitably coloured throws for the furniture but those are easy to pick up), and Al’s parents’ Christmas gift to us was to cover the cost of a cleaner to keep it shiny for as long as possible. Now that is an excellent present!
And thanks to some impressive subterfuge and perfect gift-arranging abilities on the part of Al, I am now the proud and very, very happy owner of a spinning wheel.
Here’s my spinning spot, in our newly-*done* downstairs (not that you can see too much of the latter!):
Squee!
And yes, it’s near a radiator, by a window, and with a good view of the tv. *Grin*. I have already discovered that there’s something satisfyingly contradictory about making yarn whilst watching Voyager 
I’m finding the wheel easier to work with than spindles, now that I’ve got a little more used to it (helped enormously by guidance from Linzi, the very lovely Alpaca Spinner, whom we went to see on Monday - and with whose help Al smuggled a wheel into the car boot while I was playing with some of her wonderful alpaca on her Traddy and Traveller to see which I was more comfortable with!), though the lighter spindle I got recently helped a lot. I seem to lean towards quite fine singles, so it makes sense that I got on a little better with a lighter spindle and more so with a wheel.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Good to hear you’re finally back to normal.
I have 3 alpaca fleeces that I haven’t done a thing with yet… any tips?
I’m presuming one doesn’t have to pre-wash them (I’ve found that, depsite what some people say, pre-washing sheep’s fleece before spinning makes it much easier), but what about carding? The locks *look* like they should be usuable straight out of the sacks they are in, but any advice would be gratefully received!
December 31st, 2008 at 12:09 am
3 fleeces - lovely! I bet they are so soft… I’m probably not the best person to ask for advice as I’ve not been brave enough to tackle raw fleeces yet! However, advice from much more expert people than myself (on Ravelry - I have found some spinning groups which are tremendously helpful!) suggests that you’re quite right and that washing afterwards should be fine.
It seems like carding it would be helpful (although I don’t really see why you can’t spin the locks - it might be a question of it being more likely to add texture that way, perhaps, which may or may not be what you want?), but apparently it could well be enough - and quicker - to try flick carding it and spinning from the fold rather than creating rolags.
I have to say, some of these are terms which I completely understand in theory, but am too new a spinner to have put into practice! I am currently spinning only my 6th really usable yarn so I have all of this learning ahead of me. I do love a hobby with comes with added learning
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:55 am
Thanks for the suggestions. I too am still a beginner, and seem to have been so for about two years… if you spin much more you’ll overtake my output in that time!
Have you found a local spinning guild near you? I’ve been delighted with the oddness of the people in mine. Makes me look normal; most unusual within most groups I belong to
There is also an online guild I believe (although I htink one learns much more by sitting next to someone who knows what they are doing).
http://www.wsd.org.uk/
http://www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/
HNY, albeit slightly belatedly.
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Thanks for the links, BW - I hadn’t known about the online guild! There is a guild not too far down the road, as it happens - I am still slightly working up the nerve to go along, but you may just have convinced me to see when it meets - yours sounds fascinating
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
That looks so cool!!