Learning to spin

I've been working on spinning for a while now, and though the process is fascinating, I suffer from an extreme lack of confidence in the quality of the yarn I produce. It really is to the point of goofiness. I hate the thought of showing my yarn because I don't think its any good (way to much thick and thin, way to much underspun/overpsun) and yet I need to show my yarn to spinners so I can ask questions, like am I getting the spinning thing, and can I call this yarn. I understand the basics, but there are some things I have read online that just leave me mystified and there are some things that I have read that just don't quite make a lot of sense in the grander scheme of things. With the new Julia wheel on the way, and the Babe sitting here begging for me to spin on it, I felt strongly that I needed a little guidance.

A little while ago, I read that Maggie Casey was doing a spinning video with Interweave. I was intrigued. I know Maggie Caseys reputation as a teacher. It was more money than I usually spend on one book/video at a time, but I considered it, and in the end, I decided that a well produced video was going to go a long way in my becoming a confident spinner.

The video was delivered Tuesday and with the later than usual start time at work, I spent yesterday morning with Maggie.

What a great video. Listening to Maggie teach spinning seems to make all things possible. She teaches with a quiet confidence and your are surrounded by it and before long, just the sound of her voice makes you believe that you will be a good spinner. She talked about how to tell if your yarn has enough spin, how to tell when it is too much, what to look for in plying, how to draft, whether you need to draft all the time, how thin, how thick, how much...I could go on, but the bottom line is, in just an hour I spin with a whole lot more confidence and sureness. The picture shows I still have the same problem creating yarn. Quality is going to be a while and will take some practise but at least I feel that I am going in the right direction and I feel better about it.

And when I need to hear it again, I can just insert the video again. Or listen to disk two. That is the really wonderful part. She covers the basics on disk one, in just over an hour, and then discusses a lot more on disk two. This isn't just one class with Maggie. It is more. Disk two covers carding and combing (timely help) spinning with a long draw, spinning worsted, spinning from the fold, and working with exotic fibres. I can't hardly wait to get to that part.

I feel a lot more comfortable with the quality of what I make on my wheel. I feel like I know the direction to go in, and I feel like I now have a map for when I am unsure and feel like I lost my way.

Thank you Maggie, Thank you. It would have been hard to try to get to one of your classes, but now you are just a TV away.