It has been an incredibly busy late winter and spring and I have finally been able to get down to the business of learning to spin! My first lesson actually took place while I was supporting my Guild at the Fiber Fair in Marshfield, MO. Since my instructor was there and had brought her second wheel (which I get to borrow for a bit), it only seemed natural to sit down and have her work with me there. It was my very first time ever even sitting at a wheel. So some lucky (haha!) folks got to see a newbie spinner working on her first lesson in spinning. The kids were particularly curious and encouraging.
The following week my instructor came to my place and brought her wheel, which is a double treadle. The wheel that I'm borrowing from her is a single treadle and bothers my knee after a bit, so I'm trying to figure out how best to sit and hold my position. I got to sit at my instructor's wheel and I can say with complete certainty that a single treadle wheel is not what I'd ultimately like to have for my own. I need the balancing of the double treadle action. I also learned to ply using her wheel as well.
I am amazed at how quickly the time goes when you are spinning and chatting with a friend. I thought it might be more like knitting, which for me, takes a great deal of concentration for counting and keeping track of where I am in a pattern. I know folks who can knit and not even look at their needles...I am not one of them! Perhaps it is because I am not a strong knitter or that I simply am not practiced enough at it yet. I am thrilled that when I am sitting and spinning, a lot of the ambient noise floats away and doesn't command my attention. This is probably the one creative endeavor I've done that is closest to meditation and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Although my instructor has never taught before, she is a great teacher, patient, funny, and reminds me to breathe and let go--force is not necessary, let the wheel do the work. Those words stick in my head as I draft out the fiber. I am a conduit for energy to flow through and that I don't have to push or pull the energy through my fingers onto the bobbin to make something wonderful happen.
