Spinning

I have placed an order for my first spindle and roving and am so excited! I've always wanted to know how to spin and now I'm going to give it a whorl. (Get it? WHORL! it's a good thing I amuse myself)

I did some research into the topic since there isnt a handy spinning guild in my area. There's a "guild" that charges you like $60 to join and then doesn't actually have meetings or do anything other than send you newsletters full of ads from sponsors. So in my research I found that new spinners do well with a medium spindle weight making a medium or bulky weight wool. So what did I do? I bought a lace making spindle. Yeah it makes no sense and I don't expect to actually get lace the first time I try it out but I thought it was worth a shot (plus spindles are expensive and if this is the only one I can buy for a while at least it's at the weight that I ultimately want to be able to make). I'm hoping it's not too hard to do but know that there's sure to be a learning curve.

I've found a bunch of great resources on the net for learning how to spin complete with videos. If you want the links just let me know in the comments and I'll post them.

My boyfriend thinks that I'm crazy for wanting to spin wool. He already thinks I'm crazy because the stash is threatening to fill the large rec room downstairs and I think he has visions of little bird nests of roving throughout the house. The really great thing about him though is that he accepts that I'm crazy about wool and crafts and when he talks to other people he always sounds proud of my accomplishments. Of course that may change when he finds out just how all-consuming spinning may be.

There's just something about the idea of making yarn and then knitting it into something that just seems like it would be so satisfying. Not only would I be able to say to someone "Hey I knit this just for you" but I'd be able to say "I found this wonderful wool, made it into yarn, and knit this... it's totally a one of a kind". My boyfriend doesn't understand why this feels like a good idea, methinks he needs a one-of-a kind scarf of his own.