Spinning Class #1

For some reason, I am drawn to natural things. I like the idea of organic food. I would love to have a ranch someday, and have livestock and a big garden. Growing all of my own food sounds fantastic. It's not that I don't like nice things...I like classy natural things. If that makes any sense.

I discovered paper making and knitting through a friend that I met online, and have enjoyed both over the past few years. When I moved to Provo, I found Heindselman's (which is the oldest yarn store in the country!) and it became my new favorite store. They sell so much yarn!

They also sell rovings, which is fiber that is ready to be spun into yarn. I couldn't believe it. I had always just sort of assumed that spinning wheels were obsolete.

Turns out, they're not.

My yarn store offers spinning classes, and sells spinning wheels. Who knew!?

And then, I was catching up on my knitting friend's blog and I found out that while I was on my mission, she had started spinning yarn. Her stuff is gorgeous. [See picture at left.]

So I signed up for my class, and it started last night.

It was amazing. I love, love, loved it.

There are five of us in the class, and I am the youngest. By a lot. I think the other women are all 45-60 years old. (Our teacher is up there, too, and she's been spinning for 10 years. I'm 23. I will have been spinning for 10 years at a paltry 33 years old!)

Everyone is really nice. Last night we talked about the different kinds of fibers, and passed them around. [Nice story: One lady who shops at the store saved her dog's hair for 5 years and then spun it and made a really pretty cardigan. Dog hair actually does come out really nice. She wore it to a party. At the end of the night they went to the room where they had placed all of the coats on the bed. Coats were everywhere. Her cardigan was in the middle of the room, in shreds. Moral of the story: Dogs can always smell dogs. Think long and hard before spinning dog hair.] We learned how to spin with handspinners. We learned how to clean wool.

For homework, we have some stuff to spin, and two big bags of wool to pull apart and wash. This afternoon I picked it all apart. I'll wash it tomorrow. Next Thursday, we'll learn how to use spinning wheels. Cool.