Back in Business

My sister-in-law was kind enough to loan me a spinning wheel and find a whole pile of wool/fiber/accessories to keep me busy for some time.  The wheel is a great little Ashford Traditional with a lazy kate and 5 bobbins.

The loaner wheel

Nothing but a quick dust and it'll be ready to go

I gave it a quick wipe down to remove the dust and tried a little bit of roving through the wheel - worked perfectly.  With a touch of wax to dress up the surface and some lubricant on the bearings it will be whisper quiet and looking superb.

There was a bobbin full of some blended (natural) brown with streaks of white wool through it.  I've rewound it as the end had been lost and will navajo ply it into three ply.  A good test to see if the newly acquired skill (on my Rappard in the US) transfers easily to this wheel.

There's a large plastic bucket full of fiber with lots of dyed wool roving, some silk, some mohair, and even some line linen.  It will be fun to go through that and perhaps card up some nice blended colours and experiment with blending in silk or mohair.  Once spun it can go with the very large bag of homespun wool that also came with the wheel.  Then there is a large bag of commercial wool as well.

On the next trip over to Martinborough I will retrieve the loom - I certainly have enough wool to complete quite a few projects in my time here.

Needless to say it is great to be back spinning.