Silvergrrl Arts

I’ve been thinking more about the comparison of my spinning practice to martial arts practice (last night’s reference to white belt work). It seems like a pretty apt comparison. Years ago, when I studied martial arts, we practiced simple movements over and over. Over and over and over, for months. Until we became intimately familiar with the nuances of each one, and they became so deeply ingrained that they were second nature. It was the repetition that made that happen, coupled with focused attention. And as we improved, we added more to the repertoire. So yes, very familiar indeed.

Tonight’s practice was not as smooth as the last couple of nights, but it went ok. I finished the bobbin I’ve been working on, tomorrow night I’ll start the next one.

Until tomorrow.

With today’s session, I’m halfway through my commitment to myself. I’m more convinced than ever that this daily practice is an excellent idea. I took a look back at old pictures from the first day or two – WOW. What a difference!

Today’s session, again, was easy and sweet. I think that I’ve done enough of this particular wool to get the hang of working with it. Sort of like mastering the white belt level, if you will.

Until tomorrow.

Today I finished the second bobbin and plied the two together – I’m very happy! Everything held together, and it’s probably the most even yarn yet. Once it’s completely dry I’ll check the wraps-per-inch, weight, and length and compare that to the last 2-ply I did with this wool.

I have about 5 ounces of this H57 left now, so probably two more “sets” of plied results. Then I’ll move on to the next practice wool.

Until tomorrow.

It isn’t very glamorous, is it, the daily discipline of practice? The blow-by-blow “yes, I did it again today” with improvements and mistakes, good days and bad, frustrations and joy.

However, I’m not doing any of this for glamor or excitement. Well, maybe ultimately I’ll be able to spin glamorous exciting yarn, and make glamorous exciting things out of it. But “this” – the blog posts about my daily practice – this is about something else entirely.

In our “instant gratification” society, it’s really easy to forget that learning a new SKILL takes time, and practice. LOTS of practice. By publicly documenting, every day, that I am putting in the effort, I’m walking the walk. Maybe someone else will be encouraged to try something new and fun, whatever that might be, and not despair when they are not very good at it at first.

Until tomorrow.

I was tired tonight, and my spinning was not quite as smooth as last night. I experimented with a “new” technique sort of like long draw, which is tricky with top wool like this H57. With long draw you pull the wool away from the wheel and the fibers just sort of flow out into the twist, then you let it go in to the wheel all at once. I haven’t really gotten to spinning off the fold yet (which is how you are “supposed” to do long draw with top), so I was sliding the pinch down with the twist as I pulled the wool away. It was faster, but tended to get really thin, so we’ll see if I got enough spin on it to hold together when it’s time to ply.

Until tomorrow.

Today is an example of why last week was worth it. All those mistakes + daily sticking with it are paying off. I was faster, smoother, more even, and finer (in terms of diameter) than I think I’ve ever been with this wool.

To give you a sense of scale, I’m holding a penny next to the yarn so you can see what it’s like at this point. Also, in case you’re wondering, the red yarn on the left is my “leader” yarn that I use to get started. It just isn’t covered up yet.

Until tomorrow.

I plied, and it was good. Really good! At least for me.

First I spun enough to make the two bobbins more or less equal, then I plied them together using the Lazy Kate. My new spinning book that I mentioned the other day had some tips about plying that were helpful, and I’m pretty pleased with the result.

The light in this picture makes the yarn look more silvery than it really is, but you can see the texture of the plied yarn pretty well. The tighter spin makes it a firmer yarn, and I’ll be interested to see what it’s like once it’s done soaking and dried.

Until tomorrow.