Monday, March 9, 2009

Oh, what a Joy!



Friday evening I finally got my spinning wheel, an Ashford Joy which I had found on Ebay. One of the reasons I chose this one is because it only weighs 5 kg (11 lb) and comes with an integrated handle and a sturdy carry bag.



On Sunday it was so warm and sunny that I could even spin a little in the garden ...



And I've practised a lot this week-end. First, the wheel just "ran off" on me, and it was quite tricky to co-ordinate hands and feet and wool and keeping the wheel from switching into the wrong direction and undoing the twist again ...

Finally, I managed to create something looking almost like a yarn and of course I was eager to try out a lot of ideas, even if my skills are not yet that high ... But I did notice some improvements even in these two days (or nights, rather ...)!



In anticipation of the wheel I had spun some more on my drop spindle as well:



And I've also finished the scarf I made out of my first drop spindle yarn - I decided to make a tube scarf out of it and added a crocheted border, a feather edge braid, for the finish.



This weekend, a dear friend brought me a book which I've been aching for so long: it's the textile dictionary by Hohenadel/Relton - really highly recommendable for all of us searching for those textile expressions in English when translating from German ... (and all I had to do to receive it was to feed the cats of my friend now and then!)



Does anyone of you maybe have a niddy-noddy you don't need in exchange for some yarn ...?

10 comments:

Cecile said...

I wish I knew what is a niddy-noddy !
ANyway, your yarns look wonderful. Have fun with your new toy !

Anonymous said...

These yarns are glorious! I'm glad you are enjoying your new spinning wheel.

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thank you Cecile and Paula! Yes, I really do enjoy this new toy - spinning dreams of new projects to come!

Clare Wassermann said...

How satisfying it myst be to make this yarn from scratch - I think it is the same satisfaction with felt because you have completed the "fabrication" from scratch.

Sara lechner said...

hallo, ich sehe, dass du schon senkrecht gestartet bist!! ich komme am freitag mittag und sehe mir das an!!
hans hat mir eine niddy noddy gemacht und - wenn du warten kannst bis du wieder einmal bei mir bist- macht er dir sicher auch eine. er ist in dich ganz verliebt!

mesa said...

wird ja immer besser, schöner und ...bunter....klasse!!!!!

@ sara: ja,ja, der hans, der kann´s *gggg)

lg melanie

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thank you Clare and Mesa - und Sara, ich freu' mich supersehr, daß Du am Freitag kommst! Bis dahin spinn' ich einfach weiter!

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Very beautiful pictures of your spinning and yarns. Spinning is something that has never appealed to me, so I admire you for doing this. I have no patience for this, I like to go buy mine from the shop although I do dye my own threads to get the colours I need

Have a great creative day
Carolyn :o)
LOVE STITCHING RED

Maggie R said...

Beautiful yarn spun on a beautiful spinning wheel.... What is a niddy noddy??
xoxo
((((hugs))))
Maggie

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thank you, Carolyn and Maggie! And Carolyn - I don't have the patience to dye my wool and yarns ... yet, at least! For Cecile and Maggie: I hope to show you a niddy-noddy soon - I'm just going to make one myself! (A couple of weeks ago neither I knew what that was!)