spinning update, end of week 1
Right. I practiced throughout the week for 5 seconds here and there with the yarn and Friday at lunchtime (since I worked from home) I thought I’d give a try with fibre.
I turned my spindle into an impressive yo-yo; even though I was sitting and rolling it on my leg!! I tried this with the same outcome for about 30 minutes and had to give up and get back to work, but I found it highly amusing.
I should give it to E, he loves yo-yos.
Anyway, while Sarah has been dreaming of knitting I was dreaming of spinning on a wheel (with a side trip to American spinning and knitting history as I finished No Idle Hands (review tomorrow)). Have I tried a wheel? (I’ve touched a few) Have I really stared at someone spinning? (for a few minutes at MDSWF, not at Rhinebeck, too crowded and cold) Have I done more than email with several wonderful people about spinning? For some reason when I close my eyes and picture myself spinning in my head there is no spindle there. There is a wheel. Not necessarily a fairytale wheel, an Ashford Kiwi would do wonderfully.
You see, I’m terribly uncoordinated. There is a reason that in my former life, I ran cross country and long distances. There is a reason that I’m still amazed I didn’t foul up the baton toss for a 4×1 at Penn Relays my senior year of high school. Yes, I play bassoon and flute and all winds and some brass, but those are different. Hand me a cello (please) and I don’t think it’ll be the same. I can play piano, but never practiced.
I think it’s too much for my wacky brain to have spindle spin and not thwack me and right hand and left hand deal with drafting and twist and all that stuff.
When E wakes up and I can extract the spindle I’ll play a little more. I know it’s muscle memory but dang I’m frustrated. Do I really need to spin? No. Yvonne does beautifully. Many others do too… I see it as something to occupy my mind when my wrists hurt too much to wield needles at all. (See tomorrows post for some more commentary on that).
I know I can’t do this today. But any ideas how I can then make an informed decision if we go back to MDSWF (I hope E says yes!!)? I like the Kiwi for its price (The joy is nice and compact too but more $$). Babe’s Firestarter or Pinkie look intriguing … Have others had this issue where they grok (mentally) wheels but not spindles? Does anyone in NYC have any of the above that I could try? I’ll trade you some computer help or something.