Let the spinning begin

In a previous post, I said that if you doubt the existence of the Gods, tell them your plans. Most people take this to be a negative thing, like if you give voice to your plans, they wont come to fruition, and obviously that happens a lot. Sometimes you have to accept that though your plans may be what you want, they don't fit into whatever bigger picture there is for you or your family. I believe that if something is not right for you, then no matter how many ways you approach it and how long you keep trying, it simply wont work.

So imagine my surprise when just after my previous post about wanting to learn to spin and hopefully get myself out of the job I really don't like and can see coming to an end, I heard of a spinning wheel that might be for sale locally.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been making arrangements with the owner, and this week I took delivery of the wheel on Monday and the rest of the accessories arrived this morning. I handed over money that would have gone towards a flight to see my husband, but he is as excited about this new venture as I am and he just said I need to get spinning and selling that yarn so I can see him asap :) That's all the incentive I need!

The wheel is an Ashford traditional, looks like it was made around 1975 so almost the same age as me. OK, so I'm a little older, but we're both 70's babies :) I have given her a polish and some oil to her moving joints and she moves well. Took me a while to work out that the bobbin had been put on the wrong way round, but once I'd realised that everything fitted perfectly.

 

In the bag of accessories that arrived today were a niddy-noddy, a pair of carders, 3 spare bobbins, a ball winder and the best thing of all, a Jacob fleece! Good thing I got a book on spinning a while ago so that I could start scouring the fleece straight away :) (beware, the following photos make my bath look filthy, but I assure you it is just crud from the fleece)

 

 So you know what I'll be doing for the next couple of days.....