Spinning Wheel

This week my friend gave me her spinning wheel to see if I might enjoy learning to spin my own yarn. I never realized how much coordination this took to do. It involves working the foot treadle at the same time you are moving your hands doing two separate tasks. Coordination is not a strength of mine but I will not give up easily. I have gained even more admiration for the spinning demonstrators I have seen at local fairs.

Last night, I watched several you-tube videos to see if I could begin to conquer this skill. They suggested spending time first learning how to control the foot treadles without trying to spin anything (you think I could of thought of that myself instead of trying to learn it all at once). After about a 1/2 hour I could at least figure out which way to move my feet to get the wheel to go in the direction I wanted it to. Next, I was supposed to take some fiber and slowly try to draft it while I was letting the spin go into it at a steady rate. That will take some time.

I am excited to be learning a new skill. I started looking online though for some local beginning spinning classes last night. I think I may need to get some hands on lessons. In the meantime, I will keep trying here at home.