spinning ….. slowly

One thing that I have been doing over the last couple of weeks is learning to spin.  I recently inherited my grandmothers old Ashford spinning wheel and was inspired (forced slightly by guilt) to get it fixed and to learn.

There is a wool farm/business/shop not to far from where I live called Viginia Farm Woolworks.  They run spinning and weaving classes and workshops.  They were also able to get my wheel back into  working order. 

The one thing that I have noticed about spinning is that once you have the wheel it is an incredibly cheap hobby.  It only cost me $10 to get the wheel fixed, $20 for some extra bobbins, $5 for some merino fibre and then after another $10 for a lesson …. I was spinning.

Virgina Farm have a spinning group on Thursday nights.  I have been twice now and have received some great instruction from the owner, Jenny.  The first week she got me started on spinning singles with some merino tops. I went home and practiced and half filled a couple of bobbins as instructed.  On my second visit ( a few weeks later) I learnt to ply them together and made my first skein of yarn.  That night she also taught me how to prepare and spin some raw fleece using a flicker carder. 
I am absolutely astounded at how quick I have picked it up and that I am able to produce my own yarn.  It isn’t perfect by any means but I know that it will only get better.  I don’t know if this is something that I will continue doing as a hobby.  At this stage it is just a skill that I wish to learn. 

My goal is the make a teddy bear for the new bub from some  beautiful raw fibre I bought.  I think it is Corriedale and it is a dark brown colour.  It was so cheap, only $4 for 400g which should be just enough for the bear that I have in mind.