I started spinning wool last year when I took a 2 hour workshop at the NH Sheep & Wool Festival. Spinning wool into yarn is very relaxing and quite rewarding when your end product is some lovely spun yarn. The wool shown in this post is pale pink Alpaca, which is getting to be one of my favorites to spin! The yarn shown on the spindle above is single strand. I will have to remove it from the spindle and re-spin it in the opposite direction to ply the yarn and I will end up with 2-ply yarn.I now own a few drop spindles as I have learned that different weight spindles are required to produce different classes of yarn. I was lucky enough to attend the Spin Off Autumn retreat this fall. It was held in Manchester, NH, not too far from where I live. I was able to try out several spinning wheels to see which one I liked the best. I think that a Ladybug by Schacht might be my favorite so far. However, it will probably be a while before I get one. I have two little ones at home. I need to wait until my little girl is old enough to follow directions, so that she understands my spinning wheel is not something to climb on!
If you knit or crochet, I think that you would like spinning too! Check it out at the next local handmade festival in your area! Want to see some of my 2-ply handspun yarn? Click Here to see a post that I wrote last year.
