Spinning, its not just for hangovers anymore

This past Thurs. I had the fortunate opportunity to take a beginning spinning class at Shuttle, Spindles and Skeins.
Maggie was a wonderful instructor with many years of knowledge in fiber arts. She is also in the process of writing a book about spinning. So I consider myself lucky to have such wisdom at my access.

We started by learning a bit about our drop spindle and how it would be used. We started spinning a lovely natural merino. After we got the hang of it (And I retrieved my spindle from across the room) she moved us on to a different type of wool, which I don't remember for the life of me what type that may be. But it was blue and pretty. Next we plied the two together and then used the niddy noddy (oh that is so fun to say!) to skein it.

And here it is my first yarn.

Maggie sent us home with additional roving (which my darling Pablo seems to think is a kitty bed) and of course I had to buy some since it is permissable in the Stash-A-Long. Shuttles has a wonderful selection of roving to chose from, but I managed to stay under budget. I was on such a natural high from my night of spinning that when I called dh he asked if I had been drinking. lol. We then went to Reign on Me which was excellent, but boy did I feel bi-polar. High off of yarn and crying at the movie. Too much emotion for one day.

So the next day I continued to spin the wool she sent us home with. I combined them into one skein and washed it in warm sudsy water. Do you think they could make a perfume that smells like wool? Or am I the only one who loves that scent? I hung it to dry and then waited. And waited and then figured it was dry enough to take a spin on my swift to wind it into a nice little ball of goodness.

Now the only question was what to make? The yarn starts off with a few yards of creme and then transitions to the blue/creme and then back again to creme. I decided since I only had a small amount of my magnificent first creatition that it would be best used as a hot pad. I cast on several times, tried several different approaches and finally ended up with this hodgepodge log cabinish design. I feel like a little kid who brings his mom home the unrecognizable blob of clay with his initials carved in the bottom and pride displayed on his little face. I made this, I love it. All I see when I look at this homely hot pad is accomplishment, joy and that warm, fuzzy feeling it inspires in me.