Through Thick and Thin

This was an experiment with interesting results….I had two spindles that were different weights and I wanted to see what the difference would be in the spinning I could produce on them, so I spun singles on each of them. One was the Ashford (3 oz) and one the Bosworth midi (.8 oz).

I had been having trouble working with the Bosworth and couldn’t see what everyone was raving about. Then I decided to use a Twiggy thin strip of roving and I had the proverbial light bulb moment. This baby can spin! I had been weighing it down too much with a thicker roving. The thinner the better. Although at first I did have a few breaks in the roving where I was just too thin, I got the hang of it.

Now I’m spinning some South African top on the Bosworth. It’s a more difficult roving to work with as it’s much wispier and breaks more. But I think it will be ok once I practice a bit more. The yarn above is actually quite soft – the first time ever that something I’ve spun is actually touchable. Now that’s progress.

I am finding that the day after I spin my hands are quite sore. I have bad hands to start with (tendinitis), so I’m not surprised. My masseuse told me that I’m like the weekend warrior. Similar to the way that a person playing weekend sports is sore on the Monday, I’m going to have to condition my hands to using those muscles in a different way. Once I do it more they’ll get used to it. I sure hope so because I’m becoming addicted to this!