Areas of Unrest

18 July 1999 - In Which I Become a Spinster

I spent half the day yesterday at a spinning class. When I mentioned this to someone today in the context of why I hadn't gotten out to walk yesterday morning, she said "well, at least you got your exercise." She was pretty amazed when I said "no, no, spinning as in yarn, not spinning as in riding stationary bikes to overamplified music."

Okay, it's a pretty obscure craft to want to take up, but I've been intrigued by it for ages. Most of the other women there were like me - having done pretty much every sort of needle craft there is at some point. I barely remember learning to crochet, though I know I first got really good at it when I was about 14 and shrink vests were in fashion. It's also about then that I learned to knit, mostly because my mother was doing booties for a hospital charity program. I do embroidery, needlepoint, latch hooking, tatting, bobbin lace, etc. so this make perfect sense.

I now know much more about wool than I imagined there was to know. The instructor basically had us handle the wool for 2/3 of the time before we touched the spindles. We started with raw, unwashed fleeces, pulling out a lock and learning how it behaved, talking about crimp and staple length and drafting and so on. Raw wool feels strangely greasy and sticky. We moved on to washed wool and then to various prepared samples. The one that had been dyed with synthetics was dry and lifeless in texture, like overprocessed hair. I also realized how much I still don't know.

Eventually we got to use the drop spindles and to practice spin the spindle, pinch, draft, let the twist travel, spin the spindle, pinch, draft, let the twist travel, repeat chorus. I made a very little bit of yarn, but I bought a spindle and practiced more at home both yesterday and today. It's frustrating at first and the yarn I've made so far is vastly uneven in thickness, but I think I'm going to like it. There's a nicely meditative quality to it, at least for the little bits that I can maintain the rhythm. A drop spindle costs under $15 so it isn't like I made a huge investment, particularly since the class fees included a bag of fibers. By the time I've spun all that, I should know how seriously I want to get into it.

Not that I exactly needed more projects.