My True North

One of the things that a lot of folks struggle with is defining themselves artistically.  I know for me, in the beginning with spinning, I was so eager to try everything.  Settling into what I REALLY liked from what wheel to which fibers to what exactly I liked spinning took awhile.  This weekend, having finally finished up with a knitting project last week that I’d been working on since October, at last I felt fee to do other THINGS that called to me artistically.  

First I decided to do a little bobbin clean up and this was the result:

Truth be told, this was a Loop bull’s eye batt I purchased last year at Maryland Sheep and Wool and I started spinning it on my travel wheel at a spin in last fall.  So, it had been hanging around for a long time too.  A lot ended up going into this yarn (which is a variation on Lexi Boeger’s Coil Boil) — here is the recipe:

1.  Spin a single

2.  Ply with a metallic thread

3.  Coil the plyed yarn

4.  Navajo ply the coiled yarn

Then, today, pulled out a hand painted BFL braid that I bought last year:

And, I made a six ply yarn:

Making a six ply yarn is a pretty fiddly process.  This involves spinning six singles and then plying them all together at once.  It’s a little tricky because you are trying to mange a lot of twist at one time to get a balanced yarn.  “Fiddly” is a great word describe the experience.  But, I guess after all is said and done, that is really one of my defining artistic characteristics.  I really don’t go for making the same thing over and over and I like putting my shoulder to the wheel and fussing with my spinning.  I usually think of it as “plying my way out” of whatever I’ve gotten myself into.  I have a pretty silk single sitting on a bobbin and I know I could just thread ply it and be done and it would be nice.  But, that has no appeal.  I keep waiting for inspiration to strike to make the yarn more interesting to me than that. 

So, there you have it:  I am not a fast spinner.  I am a “fiddly” spinner — the more steps the better, it seems.  I first really noticed this when we were developing the Journey to the Golden Fleece course which was developed with the idea of helping spinners to find their own particular voice.  We set sail again today with another group of spinners for the only time we are opening the course this year.  It is always exciting to begin this course anew.  If you were thinking about signing up, there is still time…come on and join us and enjoy the only spinning course available designed to help you discover your own true north as a spinner!