A few good days

This last few days have been quite good. I've spent a fair few hours spinning on the Christmas present I bought myself last year. 

Many centuries ago I trained to be a primary teacher and the most fun I had was in the classes on textiles and other art things (that and the child development theory that proved very handy in raising my offspring). I enjoyed the loan of a spinning wheel to such an extent that my parents bought me an Ashford Traditional wheel for the birthday just before I graduated from Churchlands College (now I feel quite old). What with one thing and another, I never really did a lot of spinning mostly due to lack of time and more lack of knowing where to find good fleeces after I left college. But my wheel stayed in my bedroom, or my lounge room all these years.

The best bit about graduating from university was that I found a connection to an organisation, the Handspinners, Dyers and Weavers Guild of WA, that is seriously into spinning and all those other textile creating arts. And that meant that I now have access to fleeces, and discovered the concept of prepared wool fibre, and the possibilities of other fibres.

And I discovered that my lovely basic wheel was no longer sufficient to what I wanted to learn to do. So I bought an Ashford Joy, and I have enjoyed spinning in some interesting places (my favourite so far being Matilda Bay earlier this year), and some interesting fibre (the oddest by far being recycled plastic bags *G*). This last weekend I've spent spinning the finest yarn I've managed so far. And it's really silly/amusing how incredibly pleased with myself I am that I now have almost 200g of a 18 wrap-per-inch yummy red yarn.

Now this was a prepared fibre, 'sliver' or 'top', so for my next indulgence and attempt to make a fine yarn, I need to wash some of the fleece I have stashed in my studio, prepare it and remove all the short bits and vegetable matter that would make it more difficult to make a fine yarn, possibly dye it (sky blue pink with yellow spots as the family saying goes) before seeing if I can repeat this lovely feeling of having achieved something I have been heading towards for a while.

Now I just have to find a suitable lacy, but simple, pattern that will make up into a nice shawl of some kind. The worst of it is, I can't make up my mind if a triangle or rectangular shawl would display this yarn off better.

But I'm going to have fun making it too!