The Friendly Schacht

As promised, I am posting about spinning class last night. I had quite a blast but was too shy to ask for any pictures... maybe next time?

I had my heart set on trying an Ashford Traditional but Maggie plopped a Schacht in front me:

I think this wheel is beautiful in its own way, but I've been dreaming of an Ashford for several months now. I have been looking through the most popular brands and but I come back to that same Ashford Traditional, time and time again. I understand the practical uses of an axle wheel verses the more traditional forms but I feel like the Ashford speaks to me. I plan to ask Maggie if I can try it next week and if I am still in love with it, I'll put in an order! My only concern is that the orifice is not directly in front of the spinner and I really enjoy that luxury with the Schacht. I know that I won't be truly happy until I at least try the Ashford and even then I don't know if I'll be happy buying anything else.

As for the yarn that I spun last night, there are two kinds: the really crappy all-over the place kind with many lumps and thin spots, and then there is the kind that I spun once I got home and had a glass of wine:


It's kind of a blurry photo but you can see a lot more consistency than what I started with. For the most part of class Maggie walked around and helped people individually if it looked like they needed it. This allowed me to concentrate fully on what I was doing... which turned out to be a bad thing! Once Maggie started talking and I started listening to her, my yarn came out much more consistant and fine. Of course this was towards the end of class and I was in need of a break. However, right before leaving I looked over at Val (who has taken the class before) and saw her technique. She was quite calm and her yarn was very consistant and pretty. I made a mental image of what she looked like and what she was doing and attached a note to give it a shot. Both that image and the glass of wine, when combined with much more relaxing lighting, allowed me to produce what you see here. This was only my second attempt at spinning on a wheel and I am very pleased.

I'm pretty sure that I can spin all of the fiber that we got for the class this weekend and am trying to figure out how to get more so that I can continue to practice through out the week. Plus I really enjoy spinning and while I don't find it that much more relaxing than knitting I get a pleasant, happy feeling that can only come when you are producing practical with your own two hands. I spun quite a bit of crud last night, and previously on the drop spindle, so I am trying to figure out how I can recover that wool. It's not like I'm gonna use it for anything anyway so I'm going to experiment with washing and re-carding it to see if I can get some back.

I am also going to attempt to participate in Eye Candy Friday, so here is the first picture.

It's one of those funky, rubber-y, stretchy balls. I thought it would make a decent entry into the Eye Candy Friday collection.

I'm off to spend the day shopping with my Grandma and Mom. I'm also going to be giving my Grandma her socks, so tune in next time for an update on the Not-From-Heaven-Not-Quite-From-Hell Socks.