It had to happen eventually. My blog page about the Barnett Drum Carder occasionally attracts queries about spare parts, which I forward on to my Uncle David. Recently a lady who runs spinning and felting workshops enquired, and in the course of her query I noticed her website, Beechwood Crafts, and went to have a look. Turns out her classes are not too far away and she does a novice class, ‘Beginning Spinning’. So I thought, why not have a go? Could be another way of getting in touch with my family heritage on my mother’s side. I have happy memories of watching my Aunt spinning wool, it was kind of hypnotic, almost like magic. 

Well we had a fab day, myself and 3 other ladies, all beginners. To our amazement we all managed to familiarise with several different spinning wheels, set up and actually spin some yarn. Once we’d spun 2 bobbins, we put each bobbin onto a ‘lazy Kate’ and plied the 2 yarns together to make some actual yarn. Then we made our freshly spun yarn into a skein by winding it onto a niddy-noddy (aren’t the words in spinning so colourful?) 

As soon as I saw our teacher demonstrating the technique where you feed the wool in and control the twist so that the yarn is perfectly even, a light went on in my heart. That’s exactly what I saw my lovely Aunt doing on childhood visits. It was fascinating and mesmerising. Now, instead of finding excuses not to spin my own yarn, (too busy, takes too long, needs too much equipment, what would I knit with it anyway), I just want to spin for the joy of it and I don’t care what I do with the yarn.

The only thing to do now is to get a spinning wheel…