Spinning like a crazy woman!

During the winter of 2009, I learned to spin yarn on a spindle. I've posted a number of times on the topic and I was adamant  that I would not buy a wheel. I spun on spindles and that was that. I liked to be different and buck the spinning wheel trend.

Well I still like my spindles, but I came to a realization.

I am a knitter first. Spinner second. Don't get me wrong, I love spinning. But I love knitting with handspun yarn even more than I love spinning it and I just wasn't productive enough on a spindle to be able to knit with my handspun on a regular basis. 

So I broke down and in February I bought this:

A lovely Lendrum, Canadian made, used from a spinner in B.C. I've had it for about a month and I've spun about 700g of fibre on it already! 

I spun some 200g merino/silk that I got from Oregon in 2010.

And then I spun 300g of Alpaca to make a chunky 3 ply.

One of my favorite things about this wheel is that I comes with a plying head and HUGE bobbin.

This makes for some seriously large quantities. I think I'm going to make a chunky shawl from this stuff. (I have another 300g to go...)

 

This huge bobbin is also great for chunky singles and art yarn. I spun this batt from my friend Susan (soft and fluffy as a cloud!). The photo really doesn't do it justice. It was so fun to spin. I might turn this into a moebius scarf.

 

The next thing on my wheel is some corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms. I started spinning this a few years ago on my spindle and I've been wanting to spin enough for a pair of socks. I'm just plying the second batch of 50g (50g more to spin, just to be safe with the yardage). I can't wait to knit socks from handspun!!!

One of the big reasons I wanted to get a wheel right now is that I may be getting some fleeces from the Blue Hills Fibre Festival (which incidentally I'm helping to organize) in June. A wheel will allow me to get through some serious quantities of wool! Maybe enough to knit a handspun sweater someday...

Today I read an article in KnittySpin that summarized my feelings precisely. I'm hoping that by getting a wheel, I will be able to go even deeper into my love of knitting through greater control over and creativity in the yarn I use in my projects!