Spinning My Wheels

Day 183: The pandemic has left me feeling as if I'm spinning my wheels. Oh, hang on a mo'...that's exactly what I've been doing. In addition to my other fiber-arts projects, I have not only been spinning woolon my 40-year old Louët, I've taken up the new sport of turning cotton into thread on a charkha. Not only did I finish up 42 ounces of "cinnamon twist" (white Corriedale plied with a cinnamon-coloured lamb's wool), I polished off a pound and a half of silver-grey Gotland over the last month. Now I have moved on to a lightly washed raw fleece I call "Honey-lamb" for its golden overtones. It was a gift from another spinner, and I've felt guilty about not getting to it before this. While I normally card my wool into batts and spin directly from them, Honey-lamb seems to want to be processed into rolags in order to achieve a smooth yarn, perhaps because it is a very long-staple fiber, measuring out at 5.5-6.0 inches on average. I spent last night and part of this morning filling my basket with rolags, wool which has been carded and formed into loose rolls. Tonight, I will spin up as many as time allows. And so it goes: card and spin, card and spin. Sometimes spinning your wheels is a good thing.