My 10 year old SoCal Grandgirl is visiting for a bit, with her brother. Inspired by the main character in the MG Fantasy, she asked to learn to spin with a drop spindle. So we had a lesson as soon as she got out of the pool. The girl is a natural- she caught on to the motion and rhythm almost immediately, which thrilled us both.
A few years ago, I went through a spindle-making phase and I still have a lot of cut and shaped, unassembled spindle parts on hand, so she went through the whorls for a spindle of her own. Of the whorls that were heavy enough for a new spinner, she chose a lovely Bocote whorl.
She did a remarkably good job. The first spindle of yarn was thick and uneven (like all first yarns), but by the second shaft-full, she was making a fairly even sportweight yarn! I told her that it took me a lot longer to get the hang of spindle spinning.
Tonight, we plied the two spindles to a third. Even Ms. New Spinner could tell that plying on a spindle is a pain. But she persevered, and here is her very first handspun yarn!
I let her choose from my stash, and she selected a braid of lovely dyed merino/mohair for her next yarn. She has pre-drafted a bunch of it, and her first merino singles look very good. She's already asking about trying the wheel, but I want her to be more comfortable with what her hands and the spindle are doing before we throw feet into the mix. However, I have a feeling that when we get the wheel out, she'll be up to the challenge.
1 comment:
In awe!
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