A very long time and a very old art ...

It has been a long while since I felt the urge to write or post anything. I guess I can't really call myself a blogger. That said, my life has been busy; not much knitting going on due to summer (I don't consciously stop knitting in the summer, just seem to do it less: I did finish a shrug for my sis-in-law and a sock, but that's about it!) but now I have something really exciting to report. I took my first spinning lesson on Monday evening. No, not Spinning as in the cycling class taught at most gyms but SPINNING, making yarn with a drop spindle. Yes, THAT kind of spinning. And I have to say, I hadn't been doing it two minutes and I thought, "This is so cool ... why has it taken me so long to 'commit' to trying it?!" Well, one thing is just time ... finding the time to do everything I like to do: hang out with boyfriend and his kids, do Tae Kwon Do, do my job, rehearse a show, take voice class, hang out with friends and knit ... yes, I guess there is a lot going on in my life. Not much time for spinning. But now I'm hooked and I'm searching online to find the perfect beginner's spindle and am checking out websites that sell roving (carded wool or other fiber that's ready to be spun).

Now there was a conscious thought behind picking up the spindle: I'm currently rehearsing a production of "Brigadoon" (set in Scotland) and even when I'm in the chorus I tend to think of things to do that would possibly be visually interesting on stage so I'm not just standing around in a kilt, looking cute. The Scots are known for their yarn and sheep so I talked to the director about maybe knitting on stage, if there was an opportunity and if he wanted that kind of "setting of scene" and he appeared to be open to the idea. Then I mentioned spindle spinning as an afterthought and he got quite excited about that idea. I don't know if we'll have an opportunity to use it in the show, but I'm glad that by doing the show and thinking about the setting and my character, it took me through a process that allowed me to get to the point of actually having wool roving in my hand and a spindle hanging down in front of me from the yarn I'd just spun!

Too, I'm learning a whole new vocabulary: whorl, roving, nep, noil, batt ... and sheep names like Corriedale, Romney, Bluefaced Leicesters (BFL to those in the know). And I'm learning a technique that has been used for 9000 years. I mean, 9000 ... years! There are Egyptian paintings that depict women using a drop spindle. Wow. The closet archeologist in me really likes that.


I'm really jazzed about both learning this new thing and about the eventual possibility of spinning my own yarn in order to knit it up into socks. For some reason that just floats my boat. And beyond that, I think it's really important to continue to learn; to continue to use my hands, to explore new things and to continue being creative. I'm not getting any younger and they say that it's very important for us to keep using our brains as we age. I'm glad I've just added another "learning" to my list of things that I do. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?! I'll report back when I've ordered my new spindle!