Contemplating Alpaca

Yesterday I washed my plied alpaca handspun yarn and hung it up to dry. I ended up with two lots, a lighter one that is beige and brown, and a darker yarn that is dark brown and black. The next thing now is to decide what to do with it once it is dry and ready for use.

I love the softness of the alpaca yarn. I am told that it is very warm too. I do not have much yarn so I can only do a small project. Much of the fun is in contemplating what to do. Decisions, decisions!

Stress Buster Spinning

Artizan Evolving Colourways Hand dyed Wool

I am so glad I discovered spinning! It is a really wonderful stress-buster. The past weekend has been a mad rush to get a community grant application in for a project I am doing. This was on top of preparing for my classes ( where I teach art to beginners) and a host of other things. I was pooped!  Last night I found relief from it all by just sitting at my spinning wheel. I ended up spinning all the wool I had, save for a bag of unwashed fleece my daughter jokingly named "baa baa black sheep". I could not touch that as it really needed to be washed before anything could be done. 

Yarn spun with Windella Alpacas Wool

I spun up a beautiful blue-grey hand dyed wool top and some lovely alpaca. My spinning has improved considerably although I am still capable of making art yarn. I plied my lighter alpaca colours into an interesting 2 ply yarn which reminds me of chocolate wafer sticks I used to love as a child.  I felt wonderfully tranquil and satisfied at the end of the evening. Perhaps that is why spinners I have met so far are such a generous congenial lot - some of the nicest people I know.


                                                                

More Art Yarn!

From This....

Yesterday I completed spinning my second lot of wool, took the yarn off the bobbin and washed it to set the twist. Compared to my first lot, I had spun finer and more consistently, but there is still quite a lot of overtwisting. It's definitely still art yarn, and I am pleased. Now I have to wait patiently for my yarn to dry and plot what to do with it next. Meanwhile, I have acquired more wool - my daughter just brought me a large bagful last night - for me to spin!

....to This!

First Wheel!

After I finished spinning my first lot of yarn, Jo told me that I am ready to look into getting my own wheel. The moment I announced to the group that I was looking for a wheel, not one but two ladies offered to help me by passing on their old ones. One wheel was free of charge, and the other to be had for only a token sum. Such is the generosity of this marvellous group, which still overwhelms me. I opted for the latter simply because it is an upright wheel and I cannot afford the space for a traditional one.


My new wheel is beautiful. It is an Ashford Traveller, and still in very good condition. The only thing I needed to replace was the little piece of leather at the joint below which broke due to wear. I had bought a very colourful roving some weeks earlier and decided it's time to turn that into art yarn. I discover that I am spinning thinner strands now, not even half as chunky as before. I am getting better! However, does that mean my yarn is getting less "arty"? Watch this space.

my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel

Inadvertent Spinner

It all started last winter with knitting scarves. I suggested doing this with my daughter who had just come home to live with us after spending the past 5 years away from home studying at university half way round the world. She began knitting and soon became so good at it that she made several scarves and went on to knit leg warmers, skirts and toys at increasing levels of difficulty with each project. While she was tackling fair-isle and cable knitting, I abandoned the knitting needles for a crotchet hook and did some free-form work as I am hopeless at reading instructions in a pattern. 


Now there is a weekend farmer's market just down the road where I frequent to pick up fresh produce. Every winter, there is also a little stall manned by a group of usually very friendly ladies. One Saturday morning, I began a conversation with a particularly helpful and kind lady and discovered that they belong to a group of knitters and spinners. Anne invited me to their meeting the next weekend. I thought that would be a wonderful place for my daughter to pursue her hobby and meet new people. So I told her and we went to the meeting. My purpose of going was merely to accompany my daughter.


That was when I discovered the Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild of WA and inadvertently became a member.  Never have I met a more congenial, warm and welcoming group of people who are not only talented and dedicated, but big-hearted in every way. They adopted me into their fraternity instantly and initiated me into spinning with such great gusto that I simply had to learn in order to reciprocate their kindness.


So I took home my borrowed wheel, bought my first batt of wool and started spinning - gingerly at first, with great incoordination like a new driver with L plates.  Midway through my batt, there came an "Aha" moment when I think I got it! Only to lose it again before finding it once more. Sure I had some beautiful even strands amid the gamut of knobbly yarn. But most of it was of varying shape and thickness. "This is 'art yarn'," the others reassure me as they smile at my attempts. "Later, when you become good at it you will find it hard to spin like this again. Enjoy this while you can!" 


I LOVE "art yarn"! I do not wish to get better at spinning if it means I cannot make this anymore! I love the irregularity, the variation. I like it interesting and unpredictable. Jo, my wonderful spinning mentor from the group, taught me how to ply bits of leftover yarn and a variety of embroidery threads with it. I am very pleased with the resultant skein of yarn I made. I learnt how to wash the yarn gently in soapy water and hang it up to dry. I waited impatiently to start making my first project with it.


My first lot of spun yarn was quickly knitted with some leftover wool of a contrasting colour and morphed into this handbag embellished with a wooden button that I had hoarded for years in my stash. I have become a spinner!