re: Knitting fun with handspun

AudreyD@2 — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:37:38 GMT

I'd wanted a spinning wheel ever since I learned to crochet when I was 9 and the local store didn't have the yarn or the color I wanted. My parents bought me a spindle (they didn't have the money to indulge in hobby hopping that 9-year-old girls go through). I couldn't figure out how to do it with the spindle I had. I still wanted that wheel, though.

I finally learned to spin on a spindle about seven years ago. My first yarn looked like multi colored garden slugs and I kept dropping the spindle. Most everyone does. I got better.

I can make my own yarn now and I got a Kromski Mazurka about 3 or 4 years ago. I'm spinning tussah on the wheel at the moment. I also have about 4 or 5 spindles, two or three of which I made myself.

So don't give up. It will go better next time. Spinning makes me feel happy. There is something very feminine about winding up the yarn when you are spindle spinning, too.

re: Knitting fun with handspun

Sandielynne — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:31:14 GMT

Kathleen,

Don't feel bad. I first tried spinning with a spindle too, and failed miserably. Thankfully I later was able to learn using a wheel, and it made all the difference in the world. Now I enjoy many hours of spinning, and then later, knitting with my own handspun yarns, and it is very satisfying and fulfilling to be able to do that. Sandie