Spinning Away

          Last night was our spinning guild meeting at The Manse.  It is always so much fun to get together with everyone, and last night was no exception.  There were 9 wheels altogether.  A Ladybug, a Louet S-10, my Majacraft Rose, my old castle-style upright that I am selling to my girlfriend, 2 CPW’s, a Hitchhiker and 2 Ashford Traditionals.  You know, there wasn’t one wheel I tried that I would kick out of bed.  (other than my old Castle- we never got along too well).  lol 

          It was amazing how different the 2 Traditionals spun, even though they were the exact same model.  I like both equally, but they were different.  The CPW’s I expected to be different, as they are the same type, but with different tensioning, and their age is markedly different, also.  They spun very nicely, but since I draw with my left hand, they were a bit awkward getting used to. I had to sit a bit sideways, but it wasn’t a big problem.  My favorite wheel of the night was the Ladybug.  It was easy to treadle and took up the yarn beautifully.  The Louet is the only wheel I have ever tried that actually had the feel of “build twist, feed.  Build twist, feed.”  It was very nice, but the single treadle would be the death of me. 

          It was also interesting to see which wheels people had trouble with, or didn’t like.  Or, more likely, which wheels didn’t like them .  I don’t think many people like my Rose, but it is probably because of the way I have the take-up set.  I think our favorite local designer fell for her, though.  She spins on a CPW but uses left hand draw like I do.  I showed her how the head of the Rose tilts, and she swooned.  Lolol  It does make it perfect for long draw, and if you want to be lazy and slouch on the couch while spinning.

          We set a timer for 10 minutes and moved around the room from wheel to wheel.  It was decided we would all spin the same fiber, so I brought 2 pounds of Texel that came with my first wheel.  It was a good fiber to spin because it is lofty. We spun through most of it, and I really wanted to collect it from everyone’s bobbins and make something with it, but I don’t think anyone was in the frame of mind to unravel their bobbins last night.  Lol

            I also tried a batt of mixed fibers that The Designer showed me how to spin from the fold.  I LOVED it!  I usually spin so damned thin, and I was able to control the fiber to spin thicker from the fold.  Wonder if that would work with roving?