I've Fallen in Love with Spinning

        A couple weeks ago, at the suggestion of my friend Rebecca Lynn, I purchased a Turkish drop-spindle, and ordered 8 ounces of Romney roving wool. The Turkish drop-spindle arrived a week before the roving, so I had plenty of time to get used to it by fiddling with it, spinning it on my finger, and playing around with it. Then, the wool finally arrived too! Rebecca Lynn taught me last night (10/30) the basics of how to spin this wool into yarn, both by hand and with the drop-spindle, after I was finished with major preparations for this morning's Samhain Ritual of Mourning.

        As soon as I opened the package of wool, I fell in love. My eyes were wide as saucers as I stared at the giant bundle that is bigger than my head. Then we started -- first, I had to divvy up the roving and put half of it into a plastic bag, before I broke off a piece of roving, and then pulled that apart gently. I learned how to make a foot of hand-spun yarn to go on the spindle as a leader. And then I was off to the races.

        It was glorious! The more I handled the fibers, felt them wake up and heard them speak to me, felt the attitude of this particular batch of roving -- it is comparable to a bunch of giggling sprites! -- the more I loved it, and the more I wanted to do. Rebecca finally had to tell me after about an hour of practicing that I had to put it away because she could tell from the way my hands were moving that I was getting tired, even though I didn't realize it. I realized after my second round (late this afternoon) that spinning is WORK! It's training muscles in my arms and shoulders; so I'll have to really pace myself and not overdo it.

        My yarn is crazy thick-thin-thick-thin, but I am still over the moon when I've got the fiber in my hands and the spindle is spinning on top of the upside-down bowl at my feet. Drop-spindles can be used in two ways -- dropped, or supported. I naturally gravitated towards supported.

        The wool smells so good. It feels fluffy and lovely in my hands. My hands smell like lanolin, and are SO VERY SILKY!!! And spinning is so meditative. I've spun probably a total of about three hours now, between last night and two times today. I just *had* to share with you all. I've caught the fiber bug! This is my new addiction!

        I've already had another of my friends get all excited, and she asked me if I would ever want to spin plant-based fibers for her to knit or crochet into something. (She is vegan, so she doesn't really feel comfortable using any animal products if she doesn't have to, and I respect that.)

        For those of you who might not be familiar with what eight ounces of roving looks like, I attached a photo. It's A LOT! A *LOT*. This batch is probably more like 10 oz because the shopkeeper said she sent me extra after I told her it was going to be my first wool. (I think it's kind of a *thing* to give a new spinner a bit of extra, or a spindle one isn't using anymore, or something along these lines.)

        I know I've caught this bug because I have *all this wool* and I am legit already thinking about what other kinds of wool I want to get, and when I'll be able to get them!

        My rattle, IANVARIVS, has claimed the duty of Holder of Liz's First Yarn. "First yarn" for spinners who are also magickal folks, I am told, is very important. It can be used as an amplifier for magickal workings toward new endeavors, starting new projects, etc. because there is a special, raw, first-time magick in the twist.

        

        So, this journal will be my documentation-station for all things spinning, magick, and spinning magick. Here we go! Spin, spin, spin!

Above: The yarn I started after I wound-off my first-yarn.