Did you make that?

I most certainly did make this. This is a photo of my first little skein of "wheel spun yarn" and I am so proud of myself. It is spun from fibre from one of Heidi Wulfraat's little sheepies.


The little ball is an example of a single. It's what results from the initial spinning process. The skein is 2 singles plied together to make a stronger and more serviceable yarn. I found the rolag that Heidi gave us to spin was very soft and left my fingers soft with lanolin but not in any way greasy or uncomfortable. The yarn in my little skein is much softer than Briggs and Little 100% wool for example. I would definitely spin and knit with this wool again and again. I can see my husband and father wearing socks and mitts from this fibre and enjoying them as very wearable garments. There is definitely spinning wheel acquisition in my near future. Heid and I will have to have a nice long chat, after which I will give her money and she will give me a wheel. Ahhh commerce, gotta love it.

Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a religious or spiritual person but I do believe that we experience things from other times and other existences. I know, get out the straight jacket but that is just the way I see my place in this world. Part of the journey I guess. So it did not feel in any way weird that I got choked up when I sat down to the wheel. It was something I understood on some level and I embraced it with joy. I was almost relieved sitting there looking at the wheel and I felt sort of like one feels when they come home from a long trip. I know that sounds absolutely crazy but that is what I felt. It was a déjà vu moment and that is all there is to it. The moment I put my feet on the treadles and began spinning the wheel, I felt so comfortable and so relaxed. It was what I knew how to do and what I felt in the center of myself as being part of who I am.

The spinning was so satisfying and felt so familiar and I caught on really quickly. When I learned to spin with the drop spindle it felt always like I was doing something backwards; I was never truly comfortable with the process. Once I sat at the wheel however, I somehow realized that drop spindling felt that way because wheel spinning was what I had known all along. My first little skein of yarn was declared perfectly balanced by Heidi. She told me she was very impressed with it. Well so am I. You can teach an old dog new tricks but it helps if you knew the trick before and just needed to be reminded.