Adventures with Wool

Sometime in the middle of November I decided that I wanted to learn how to spin wool.  There was a small spinning wheel available for me to borrow and I ordered some wool to spin.  I watched videos on You Tube and searched spinning forums online.  I felt like I was ready to give it a try.

Merino wool – so soft!

The first challenge was the spinning wheel itself.  It took some time to figure out how it all worked.  Fortunately, my husband is great with mechanical things, even those with which he is unfamiliar.  When he figured out what to do with the wooden knob that was hanging from a bit of monofilament with a spring attached to the other end it was a revelation. 

Now, in the past I have learned quite a few things but researching a bit and then doing it.  That’s how I learned to knit and crochet.  In this case, however, I think I really needed to be taught in person by someone who knew what they were doing.  While I hesitate to call my self-taught spinning a disaster, I will declare it unsuccessful.  

My yarn was either too twisty or not twisty enough.  I also couldn’t manage any sort of consistent thickness.  I was treadling too fast or drafting too slow or the tension was wrong.  Maybe I just got the wrong type of wool to start.  I have read that practice and experience will help solve a lot of the issues I seemed to be having.  The thing is, the more I tried, the worse I seemed to get. (Having a raging cold at the time was certainly not helpful but I’m not going to blame it or the cold meds for my failure.)

I’d call it artisanal but that would be an insult to artisans.

After a fair amount of swearing, I was able to produce a small quantity of super bulky, two-ply yarn.  I was determined to knit something with it despite how embarrassingly horrible it was.  There was just enough to make a collar and I have to say, I am actually happy with the way it turned out.  It is warm and soft and doesn’t look that bad.

Finished collar – Not too bad!

Overall, I’d say it was worth a try and I’m glad I did it.  I also expect that I will never want to spin my own yarn again.  My husband also gave the wheel a try.  He had about the same success that I had.  Years ago he had made me a pair of drop spindles.  I had never tried one myself but he decided it was a good time to see how it worked since we had the wool and all.  It turns out that he’s quite good with a drop spindle.  So, while I have given up on spinning, he is working the rest of the wool into yarn for me.

Drop spindle with yarn