the dropped spindle

julie1 · Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 18 Location: Banffshire

I keep Jacob sheep and yes, the wool can be scratchy sometimes. I swap any fleece I don't want for soft white wool, with my shearer. Many smallholders don't want their wool and just give it to him.
It pays to maintain a good relationship with your shearer.If you only have a small flock it can be difficult to find one in the first place, but I bribe mine by paying him well so that he comes when my fleece are ready and I don't get 'second cuts' in the wool. Wink

He taught me to handshear this summer and is a goldmine of advice and information on all sheep matters.
They also make excellent meat sheep. As an older breed, they are slow growing so we like to keep them for a few years. I couldn't eat the greasy flavourless lamb the butchers sell.
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My ideal holiday; lock me in a room with my toys and post my meals under the door!

julie1 · Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 18 Location: Banffshire

I have helped other people to learn to spin in the past. They often seem embarrassed by their early efforts instead of feeling proud that they are mastering a new skill. I always tell them, ' if anyone asks why it is uneven or lumpy, tell them it's a designer yarn and supposed to look like that'.
Like many of you, I have met elitist snobs in the past. Their attitude doesn't mean that they are right, it just makes others dislike them.
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My ideal holiday; lock me in a room with my toys and post my meals under the door!

mo · Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 12 Location: Dublin, Ireland

I am so pleased to read your entries on the end result of your wool spinning and indeed anything to do with creativity. I am a novice spinner and have just spun my first "wool string" at the weekend and I am so proud of it.......... I got such pleasure from just being able to do it and as I move through the bits of my self-carded fleece I am imagining all the items I could and will knit with it. So I stand up and cheer for all of us who are truely creative. Long may we live to enjoy it.
Cheers Very Happy

Mo

spinningsue · Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 56 Location: Worcestershire

My very first bit of spinning is the 'traditional' overspun, twisty, thick and thin and bright orange to boot. That little skein sits on my keyboard and is admired constantly by me! Most people would look at it and laugh but I know it was the first step on the road to producing yarn that I can use and, if I say so myself, is pretty good now. Laughing

I love that little bright orange lump of beginner's spinning!
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natalie · Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 8:43 am Post subject:

I have my first bit of drop spindle spun yarn and my first wheel spun yarn, they aren't that different.
I love the idea of Picasso sticking his paintbrush up someone's nose!
I like spinning because its so unpredictable, if I wanted predictable I'd use shop bought DK for everything. "Vive la difference!" as the French say.
n
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hellomango · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Posts: 49 Location: Hull, UK

I made my first spun yarn into a little crocheted circle and stuck some buttons on it. I don't know why but it looks so cute to me. Only thing is, my son decided he liked it and now it is lost in his bedroom somewhere!

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