A Fresh Obsession
The Adventures of a New Spinner
By
Kai Mistry
In today’s world, fibre-craft is a very big thing. As a knitter/crocheter and now spinner and designer, everywhere I look, I see what I term as fibre art. There is inspiration to start your own version of yarn crafting everywhere.
I came to spinning at the beginning of 2008 and was very eager, yet very scared. I had no guilds that I could go to, living in Germany and not speaking the language. So I was limited to talking to (take that as interrogating!) my friends and searching for information on the web.
The problem with the web is that you can find yourself completely overloaded with information! So I read a few bits and pieces as and when I needed to and kept on talking to people instead and then took the plunge and sat down at my new wheel and started to spin.
I would love to say that it was a really easy thing and that I made great yarn straight off, but the fact is that a spinning wheel isn’t all that prepared for spinning straight out of the box, until it’s had some adjusting. My wheel had come out of a box and been placed in the living room and never been spun on. With a few false starts, where my roving kept snapping, I found that the wheel needed adjusting. After a little adjusting and a little playing, with a long piece of leader yarn, I found my comfort-zone. I started working on some Merino roving that I’d picked up at a local craft store.
My Henkys (custom built spinning wheel) was a stunner. It seemed to know how to work around me and the harmony we created was fantastic. Or so I thought. I worked out the Z-twist and the S-twist, having vaguely read about it, and worked out that working clockwise while spinning the singles and then working anti-clockwise while plying should be the way I do things. Could I get my wheel to spin clockwise on the first sitting? No! This was due to the leader yarn having been attached the wrong way around. I changed this and I could suddenly spin clockwise! I worked through that first single so quickly that I was amazed. The second single took longer; it was so inconsistent, so uneven, and nothing I did was helping. To this day, I have no idea which part on the spinning wheel I turned that suddenly helped, but all of a sudden I was spinning an even single.
Then came the plying. I wanted to try some waste yarn, but I’m a complete miser and didn’t want to waste any yarn that I might, potentially, have a use for at some point in the future, so once again, I jumped in with both feet and messed up the start of the plying, but worked out that a tightening here and a loosening there helped and I could ply. I plied, and plied and I had my first yarn. I was overjoyed! I’m sure I did a little silly dance as well.
I bought more fibre after that first success
.
This was done without even knowing whether I would continue to spin. I found that my lovely Henkys was making me work for every little bit of spun yarn. I had to adjust and readjust and then adjust the wheel some more until I could finally find something close to working. I spun up more and still it was a little uneven and a little over-plied. I took a break, walked away and tried some crochet, only to find myself staring at my wheel and wanting to give it another go.
I ordered more fibre.
My fibre orders started coming in and I started to feel guilty at leaving my wheel standing there. I had more of the Merino and I started working on that. Wow. It was spinning up quickly and evenly and oh so thinly (by my count, anyway). I tried another single and that was even thinner. I had enough of the roving left to do yet another single and that left me with a choice. Do I ply all three singles together? Or do I ply 2 and then do something else with the 3rd.
Go on, guess.
I decided to Navajo ply (chain ply) the thinnest of the singles. It just worked! Just like that, I had no issues with the plying. Happy dancing ensued once again. I plied the other two singles and for the first time, I had sock yarn. Slightly heavier, but still sock yarn.
This was becoming an obsession. Fibre was piling up in corners and shelves and slowly, I was becoming aware that I would have to go on a fibre-diet as well as the stash-diet that I’m supposed to be on.
My partner is a man I absolutely adore and he has always made sure that as a crafter, I get all the correct tools that I need. He bought me my second wheel. A lovely, brand-spanking new, Kromski Sonata. It arrived, I put all the pieces together and thought ‘This is the wheel for me.’ I took to the Sonata like a duckling to water. Spinning on it is a complete joy. I only have to think something and the Sonata seems to know and adapt accordingly. There has been sock yarn and lace-weight production and I am still loving my wheel. The hardest decision now is what to spin next? I have enough fibre to last a long while, and this decision is going to take some thought.
A busy life and work schedule led me to find solace and relaxation in a craft that I had not practiced for many years and that craft led me to the internet and all the lovely communities on there. Places to share my yarn obsession. That in turn led to idea that spinning might be something I might enjoy. So, for me, jumping in with both feet and learning to spin very quickly is working out great. Finding my perfect spinning wheel now means that my relationship to the wonder art of making my own yarn has taken a fantastic new turn, one with its own stories and ups and downs and I can’t wait to experience them all!
Better get back to the spinning! Here’s to many more adventurous adventures!
About the Author
Kai is a Brit living in Germany. Most of her time is taken up running around after two beautiful King Charles Cavaliers and her partner. The rest of the time, you'll find her knitting, spinning and now designing. Go visit her fibre-filled world at Yarn Mistrys.
This article is copyright © 2008 to Kai Mistry. All rights reserved.