All of a spin

This past weekend I got to enjoy a Christmas gift from our girls - Two day Learn Hand Spinning workshop in Norfolk.

Rather than drive up each day (1.5 hrs each way) we rented a cottage from Friday to Monday in Heacham which was a 16 minute drive to the workshop. 

There were only two of us attending the workshop which was great. Plenty of help for when we went wrong!

We started off with a chat about fleece and how to prepare it to spin. Carded and made rolags and before lunch on Saturday we were let loose on a wheel.  First just treadling to get the feel of it, then attaching the rolag to the leader and away we go. Feet and hands, tight grip, panic.  At least we could laugh, both as bad as one another. By close of play we had yarn in our first spool and more rolags prepared for Sunday. I was exhausted.

Sunday - we started off with producing a second spool of yarn and then we were shown how to ply it.  I actually found this easier than it looked.  The plied yarn was then wound and tied into a skein, washed and hung out to dry. Then we got todo it all over again.  Different wool, different wheel.  I was surprised how different the second wool was, softer and more breaky.  I can honestly say the yarn I produced was of the lumpy bumpy variety but it looks good and I have enough to knit a cowl. I’m not sure which of the two wheels I preferred possibly the Ashford Kiwi 2, even though I had to use both feet. The second one, can’t remember the name, felt a bit clunky, but then maybe that was just me!

So there you have it. Two lumpy bumpy skeins but I’m pretty happy with what I achieved. A pleasurable two days, very informative and really hands on from the start - The Spinning Barn can be found on Facebook and Instagram and also has a web page