Guest Post, Lessons Learned

Spinzilla has made for an interesting and fun week.  A week before it began, my daughter was signed up by her Grandmother and Aunt.  A second notice appeared, so I thought there was a mistake of being double charged.  I inquired about it and was told, there was no double charge…I was signed up!  Yikes!!  ME?  Did they remember I have 6 kids and LOTS of dishes?  Did they remember I am doing well to get a shower and dinner cooked everyday?  My mother and sister reassured me and said, “Just spin what you can.”  So begins this journey.

I have watched my daughter spin  in the past, and at times I have encouraged her to try to keep the width of the yarn uniform.  She is good-natured, so she smiles and untwist, if she is not too far, and tries to correct it.  This week I have realized exactly how hard it is to keep the width of the yarn consistent!  I tried to spin without pre-drafting (time is not on my side, so surely I don’t have time to pre-draft).  It was too hard to draft and I had all kinds of sizes of yarn in just a few twist.  Needless to say, I had to re-do my spinning and learn that shortcuts do not always save time.  Lesson 1: Learn from others and take advice!  I then got my fleece all caught up in a spin.  That was a mess!  Lesson 2:Keep your fleece away from the spindle.   There is a reason for keeping fleece in your hand or over your shoulder and far away from the drop spindle.  Lesson 3: Try to have your 2-year-old in bed before spinning, otherwise you will have a tremendous mess to clean up.  Lesson 4: It is much easier to spin when you make a cup shape under the whirl.  Lesson 5: After a while, it actually is relaxing.  Lesson 6: Spinning on the drop spindle goes faster once you have more yarn (and therefore more weight) spun on.

I was hoping to spin a few yards.  Today I put my yarn on my Niddy Noddy and found I had spun 65 yards.  This is not earth shattering, but for me I am shocked.

We have also had some amusing comments from children, this is one of my favorite interchanges I have heard:

Boy, “What are you doing?”

Daughter “Spinning yarn.”

Boy, “Why do you have to do that?”

Daughter, “To make yarn so I can knit things like scarves, hats, and gloves.”

Boy, “I thought it came off the sheep ready to knit!  You actually have to spin it first?!”

This has been a great challenge even though I am a novice.  A few friends of my daughters are hoping to join in next year.  That will be delightful.  A new generation of spinners!