Giving New Meaning to the Term "Slow Learner"

So I had my first spinning lesson yesterday, from a delightful lady named Sandy. Sandy has her work cut out for her. Spinning involves your feet doing one thing while your hands do something else entirely and your eyes flit about like secret service agents' just waiting for something to go wrong so you can correct it BEFORE it becomes Major Screaming Disaster.

People say they do it to relax.

The bad news is, apparently, I really suck. (Sandy would never say such a thing. She was quite encouraging, and I'm sure she has seen monkeys that spin worse than me.) See that yarn glob up there? THAT is what I spun last night. (Actually, I did spin about 3 yards of something that looks like yarn. Sort of. I'm keeping that tiny little skein in a Very Safe Place, to look at when I want to impale myself on my orifice hook.)

The good news: Apparently I can recycle the "yarn glob" into felted kitty toys for the cats at the Erie County Humane Society. (Which makes me feel slightly less despondent and wasteful and useless.)

The better news: Just look at my "loaner" wheel:

Oh, it is so pretty. A much nicer wheel than I could possibly afford right now, a Kromski Sonata. It's such a serious wheel -- and it has such presence. Every time I look at it, I feel like it's saying: Enough internet, enough television, enough cheap trashy summer novels. Sit down and spin. It's the only way to learn. (It says this in an English accent, in spite of the fact that it is from Poland. Go figure.)

So, on the good side I have a patient wonderful teacher, a great wheel to learn on, mistakes that are recyclable and some new fiber to learn on (more on that in a minute). Oh, and one more good thing: When I stopped by the library, several of my "holds" were waiting for me, including Hands On Spinning. (Oh, how I love the Pikes Peak Library District.) On the bad side I have, well, (how to put this nicely?) --- Me. Co-ordinated I ain't.

But I want to spin, damn it, so I did some research and found out that alpaca and merino (the 2 fibers I'm currently using) can be a little "slick" for beginning spinners. Several spinners recommended slightly coarser wools with a little more crimp, such as corriedale, for newbies.

So early (for me) this morning I trotted right down to my LYS where there was (mixed blessing alert!!) a SALE. I said to myself: No looking at the yarns! Fiber only! And not much of that! Well, I did have a wee nest egg -- my mom sent me a check for my birthday. So I dipped into this to buy myself 8 oz. of corriedale in a lovely plum (I know, I know: purple again. It was between that and red and I was afraid that spinning red would make me even more short-tempered and apt to cuss.) Also: a very nice Kromski niddy-noddy (used to wind skeins, up 'til now I've used a homemade cardboard model), and another pair of size 4 straights (for knitting lace). Voila:

Thanks, Mom

. . . and everything was 25% off.

(*** Note to Colorado Springs readers: The sale is at Knitters Kove on Union today and tomorrow only. It's one of those mystery discount sales where your discount can be either 20, 25, or 30% off your entire purchase depending on which token you pull out of the box. Plus you get an additional 5% off if you come dressed like a pirate. One lady asked for (& got) the discount because she was wearing a scarf -- seemed like cheating to me, but far be it for me to come between anyone and their additional 5% off. My advice: bring a bandanna. Or a peg leg. Maybe a parrot.)

So tonight I get to knit, spin, read about spinning, and go to a local MS3 group meeting.

Life is good.

Bailey ponders the mystery.