A couple of years ago I visited my aunts widower and during that visit he actually gave me my aunts spinning wheel and a carding machine. I was learning how to felt and I told him that I wanted to be able to buy raw wool and process it myself. So he simply said "I wonder if I should give you my carding machine..." and he did! The biggest surprise I ever got in my life. I didn´t even know that my aunt was a spinner. They made lots of other crafts, but I didn´t know about the spinning.
So I got home with a spinning wheel, and I had no clue what to do with it! So I did some research so that I knew how it worked, replaced a couple of things. I ordered some wool, found a great instruction video on youtube and gave it a try. I´m not even gonna try to tell you how close I was to give up and return the spinning wheel, but finally I started to get a hang of it. I was so proud of myself when I was able to make a yarn for the first time.
This is one of my most valuable possessions, in one of my favourite spots in the garden. I like to get up early and take my wheel outside when the weather allows me to.
I learned to do crafts early in life, my mum is responsible for that too. I do embroidery, knit, sew and crochet if I have to. But to be able to make things with wool is by far the most rewarding. I buy wool from a farmer about an hour away. He´s got a breed mix based on Gotland sheep. I bought wool from 18 sheep last fall and I still have some left. Some of it were really nice lambswool. I like to be a part of the whole process. I wash the wool, card it by hand or in the machine, then spin or felt with it. Wool is so versatile, you can make so many different things from it. I needlefelt santas too, for example.
I made this bag for the farmer, he wanted to give it to his wife on her birthday, so I made a surprise bag. Partly made with wool from their own sheep.
Very appreciated.
So, what´s my point by telling this?
We talk a lot about learning new skills, the homesteading life is based on a lot of different skills. And I think that´s why I find it so interesting. It´s the feeling I get when I achieve something. When I decide to learn something new and trust myself to be capable of learning. It isn´t just learning new things, it´s everything I do. It makes me feel good about myself. It doesn´t matter if it´s gardening, crafts or doing the dishes. I achieve something. I think that´s what it takes to do things, you need to know how great it feels. You need to know that what you do is good enough.
And I´m just an ordinary person. That is kind of my point. I can do this, so can all of us.
But it´s that feeling I´m going for, every time.
I also like to point out another thing, I love working with a material that is provided by a sheep. And even better if I have met the sheep. I think that´s kind of neat. And it is superior to any synthetic fibre when your feet are cold. It´s all natural, I do it all by myself. I wouldn't keep sheep and the farmer didn´t use the wool. Well some of it was used to insulate a dog house, but they don´t use it themselves.
And, this is important. I watch a lot of other spinners and at first I started to compare myself to them. I don´t know all the different techniques to spinning, I make yarn anyway. I found what works for me. And it doesn´t have to be perfect either. I can knit a pair of socks with it even if I got some lumps to it or one end is thinner than the other. It will never look like a yarn made by a machine and that´s good to know.
If you want to know more about spinning I could try to answer it, but I think there´s a lot of good information to find on pinterest. I probably read all of it anyway. And if it´s something else you want to do. Just go for it.
Until next time, be well.
//S