Spinning

I had my first of 3 spinning classes yesterday. It takes about an hour to drive through the country to where I was taught, but it was worth it. The sun was shining brilliantly for once. And, the owner of the shop is a doll! I love her, she's so nice and down to earth. She has a little fiber empire going in the wilds of Illinois--such a cool place.

Things I learned:

how to card wool

that I like curved carders better than flat ones

that if I use a top-whorl spindle, I don't need a yarn leader--I can just hook the spindle into the rolag and start spinning!

that the big giant lumpies I occasionally get when spinning are because I am drafting too close to my other hand--that was a crucial finding, and well worth the price of admission :)

how to read an S-twist vs a Z-twist (it's just the cross-bar of the letter that labels the wrap direction!)

I feel much more confident in my spindle-spinning now, and not quite such a newbie! My only problem is that the other ladies in the class spent more time talking than learning, and, because my job all week is talk-intensive, I had a hard time joining in. I'm just concentrating on my fiber. Hope they didn't think I'm rude :) That sometimes happens at knit night, too!

Next week we get to move on to a spinning wheel, and I think I am going to drive there whether there is a winter storm or not :) (brave words for the midwest)

While there, I purchased two skeins of Socks that Rock midweight in the most awesome colors. Wow, 'fire on the mountain' is one of the prettiest yarns I've seen. I'll post a pic later :) What a nice yarny Saturday that was.