The Time Is Now

Well, here we go. I have never done anything like this before. My Friend Christine has been begging me to start my own blog, so now, we are going to go for it.

I started knitting when I was about 5 years old. My mom used to teach knitting to young women at the local YWCA. It was pretty funny to me, sitting with all these grownups who were still learning to cast on, as I worked on knitting a little pink sweater.

I have always loved fiber arts or anything artistic for that matter. I played the cello in orchestra for about ten years. I learned to play the guitar and piano. I played handbells in a bell choir, and I have always sang. I love to paint and draw, work with beads, and I think I have tried, done, or do just about every fiber art craft there is. I used to sew all my own clothes and still do to some extent.

I had stopped knitting for about ten years due to some health issues with arthritis. I work as medical transcriptionist and my hands are my life, so when I started having real problems with my joints, my job had to come first, and I gave up knitting for a long time. About three years ago, I got on a real good medication regimen that totally turned my life around. I was able to take up knitting again and I haven't looked back since. I have been obsessed ever since.

In the past 8 months I have taken up spinning my own yarn. I went to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Fair with a couple of friends last September. It was just crazy. I was so taken by all the wool and the colors and the feel of the fibers that I bought 1/2 pound wool in all different colors, and I knew nothing about spinning and did not even own a spindle, let alone a wheel.

My friends and I were sitting on some benches watching all the spinning wheels that were being used around us. This woman named Wanda Jenkins was spinning with a Turkish drop spindle. I was just totally fascinated and drawn to what she was doing. She graciously showed how she spun. My first thought was, I can do this too! It just so happened that Wanda's husband Ed had handcrafted this drop spindle. I went home that night and ordered one online from Jenkins Woodworking.

Needless to say I am absolutely, utterly in love with spinning. So far, I have spun up the 1/2 pound of wool that I got from the fiber fair. I am working my way through 8 oz each of white, grey, and black fine Shetland wool. This is being spun up in fingering weight. I have spun 9 skeins of white (see my profile picture) , 3 skeins of grey, and 3 skein of black. All of the Shetland wool spinning has been done since the end of February. When I get it all spun, the white is going to be divided into smaller skeins and dyed different colors. I am going to knit Fair Isle gloves and mittens.

In addition, I bought a Kromski Sonata folding spinning wheel in December and have been working my way through 2 pounds of blue superwash wool from the Sheep Shed Studio. I am spinning this in sport/worsted weight for a sweater I am going to knit for my daughter.

I am totally addicted.

I hope this is not too long-winded.

I will post pictures soon.