Flipping Out

When I bought my spinning wheel last spring, I had no plans other than to learn to spin. Although a work in progress, I think I'm doing fairly well on this front. There is a drawback to all of this yarn making business though, and that's figuring out what to do with all of the yarn I make. I've only used a little bit of it, and I've given even less of it away. Some spinners are selling their creations at the local yarn store, but I haven't. I'm hoarding it for some reason.

Needless to say, my handspun is piling up and threatens to take over the house. Some has been sacrificed for the learning process, such as learning cable plying techniques. That took a lot of fiber, and makes an interesting looking yarn. The final product reminds me of rope. I have no idea what I'll use it for, but the process of producing two 2-ply yarns then replying those together in the opposite direction was entertaining.

In part, I love the way the handspun looks when it's finally plied, skeined and twisted. I tend to fill a bowl on the table and display what I've spun as art and there it sits. Once it's knit, my yarn takes on different characteristics that I may not like as much as the presentation of the skein. What's a spinner to do?

Well there is a way to take my yarn and turn it into something that appears to keep the qualities that I like about my handspun, but to do that, I'll need some different equipment and a whole new skill set.

Enter Santa, suspiciously disguised as my husband. He gave me a loom. Though I've yet to receive this back ordered item, it's on its way. For now, it's OK that it's not here because, frankly, I need to study some new vocabulary so I can at least sound half way intelligent when I speak about my spiffy new Schacht Flip Folding Rigid Heddle Loom.

I mean, really, what's a warp? Or a weft? Or for that matter, a heddle? I see I have a lot of prep to do before I even take the loom out of its carrying case.

Those elves better step on it; I'm a very quick learner.