Danger, Spinster at Work

Last evening and today were a learning curve in spinning. Totally rusty skills, coupled with undimmed ambition, not a great combo.

I noticed last night that my whole left hand kept freezing, it's like trigger finger, except all of them. I can work it back into use, but I had to stop. And I noticed the spindle was hardly spinning, just a lazy revolution or two. Hmm. Maybe we were both tired.

Took a look at all three spindles, realized that the whorl, the wide bit, had slid up the shaft a bit. Pushed it down half an inch, and today it's spinning merrily. So for once it wasn't user error. The center of gravity needed to be adjusted.

If you want a totally scholarly insight into the physics of spinning, go right to Abby Franquemont, Respect the Spindle.

There's a reason she's so respected herself. Knowledgeable, nondogmatic, great spinner and teacher. You can see her teaching on YouTube, too.

I tried spinning two colors together, not bad for starters.

Then tried plying them, and you see the hopeful little heaps in the pic. It was about spinning z and plying s, just for practice.  It looks humble but there's a good bit of learning since yesterday. And this lumpy, I mean artisanal, yarn, will work in weaving or maybe Tunisian crochet.

I also, to continue now that I'm back from signing a petition at the door to get my dems on the ballot again, watched a few videos last night about the Turkish spindle, and I really fancy a  try.

There are the classic wooden ones, works of art, and there are 3D printed ones in all sorts of colors.

And yes I am reading a book club choice, Spinster by Kate Bolick. Spinning doesn't come into it, but her female inspirational women do.

We all need a bit of inspiration now and then.

Before I move gently on from spinning, here's a great book

The spinning is going on apace, and one thing that's great about being a beginner is that you can see your improvement on a single cop -- that's the yarn on the spindle.  Yesterday's output was clearly better by the end of the cop than it had been at the beginning where it was lumpy and bumpy and not too yarny. By the end it was much more even and fine, and generally yarn like.

I will go on spinning just won't bore you with it any further!  this happens with all my artwork -- it all goes on apace, even when I don't write about it.  A lot of things go on in my life that don't make it into here, in fact, despite the innocents who tell me this is my journal....nooo.

Anyway, before I go on to write of other things, here's my entire spinning library, arrived today, and I stopped everything and went out on the patio, lovely mild day, to read and drink lemonade.

Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont, respected by many spinners as a great teaching book on history, culture, spinning techniques and why they evolved where they did, and the physics of spindle spinning. Also why it's an end in itself, not just the gateway to using a wheel..

The pix in the book are simply great, you have to see them.  And Abby Franquemont is an excellent spinner and teacher -- her videos on youtube full of encouraging sounds and that's nooooooormal interjected into the various stage of spinning she demonstrates.  

So though I'll be spinning and dyeing -- I now have a nice hank of Coopworth waiting to be dyed, as well as the cop you see on my spindle -- I'll be getting on with other plans, such as framing the transparencies. And with building a few spindles.  I wonder if a knitting needle and a small rubber wheel of some kind would work...must look around and see what I can press into service.  Toy wheels are used, too, and CDs, but that doesn't interest me so much.

Also kicking myself for ending the plein air season last week, because of a series of cold Mondays.  Today was wonderful, and I hope some of the artists ignored me and went out anyway.