I have resisted sitting down at the spinning wheels. I told myself that once the boxes in the food storage room are unpacked, I can sit and spin for a while. Those boxes are not unpacked yet but the day is still young! I think that’s exhibiting quite a bit of self-control. The spinning wheels have been here over a week and I haven’t touched them.
Added asked me several times if she could try spinning. I doubt she sticks with it more than 2 minutes. It isn’t easy and I’m not good at all . . yet. As I’ve mentioned, my excuse is that Rita would get under the pedals and run into the wheel and I had no good place to put the wheels in the Texas house. Here, I can put them in the corner (basically where they are) and they will not be in her way. She may wander over to where I am working but she will not just walk into them on her way to get water, as she would have in Texas.
This morning I ordered some “easy to spin” wool from Etsy. It was also fairly inexpensive – $22/pound. That wool can get really expensive and as a beginner, even the stage where I am and especially what Addie will do, it’s pretty easy to go through a pound in not much time at all, and most of what I spin now either becomes stuffing for projects or goes into a fabric bag for a dog/cat pillow.
For those who have never tried spinning, you have to get a rhythm going with your feet and it has to be 100% consistent and much slower than you think it would be. Then your hands are doing the drafting and it takes just the right amount of tension to feed the fiber through, not too quickly, not too slowly, not too much tension, not to much slack. Watching someone else do it, it seems so easy. Trying it myself . . not so easy!
Even though I’m about 99% sure Addie will not sit more than a few minutes at the spinning wheel, I want her to be able to do everything she wants to try. Who knows where sitting at a spinning wheel at 8 years old will take her . . she loves animals and I could see her having alpacas or some exotic breed of sheep . . but that’s just Granny dreaming! Because of the effect crafts have had on my life – writing the quilt books, the longarm quilting, the blog, my love of knitting – I will provide the tools and my time for whatever craft she wants to try and I will never hold her feet to the fire when she wants to give up. I think back to the encouragement of my grandma – allowing me to play in her button drawer, sew on her old treadle machine, teaching me to do embroidery and crochet . . where would I be had I not had those little fires lit when I was Addie’s age?
Having the two wheels here, Addie and I will be able to spin together and I’m looking forward to that!
Roberta says
Girl do NOT be using that early spun yarn for stuffing!!!!!!!!!! I’ve taught lots of people and showed people at the state fair just what spinning is all about. Once you become a confident spinner you will never be able to create that wonderful early spun yarn. If you do nothing more with it weave it up into a table mat. Show it OFF!!!! That yarn is very hard to create once you can spin well. You’d be surprised what a kid can do with a spinning wheel, they still have bike knowledge for moving feet, etc.
Judy Laquidara says
OK. I’ll save it. I didn’t realize it would be hard to go back and do the tightly kinked, chunky, then super thin yarn once I know what I’m doing. I’ll save it.
Dorothy Matheson says
My daughter learned in an hour what it took me weeks to learn to spin on a wheel. Kids seem to catch on quickly.
Judy Laquidara says
Great. That gives me hope. I was afraid she would lose interest when she sees that it isn’t so easy to learn.
Lynne Davidson says
My granddaughter learnt at 8 years old, do you have a spindle for her to try on as well. Sometimes it’s easier to park and draft with a spindle
Judy Laquidara says
I do have a spindle and can try that as well. Thanks!
Nelle Coursey says
So much fun to do things together.