I’ve had a bit of hand pain before and a day of rest usually fixed it. This time it’s been a lot worse, so I decided I’d take at least a few days break. There was an extra reason for this: I had my first day-long spinning class on Sunday. I didn’t want to end up hurting too much to participate. As it turned out, my hands were fine and I suffered more from the hangover I gave myself drinking too much champagne at a birthday party the night before.

The class was fun. I sat and spun with the lovely Rebecca to my left and the amazing Danielle to my right. Having taught myself to use a drop spindle already, that wasn’t new to me. But a week’s practise on the wheel certainly didn’t leave me with nothing to learn! I picked up a much better way to join the next handful of fleece. I learned that a flicker is much easier on the hands, and faster, than a comb.

Since the wheel is a Hebridean, I looked up Scottish first names on the internet and for a while it was a toss up between Harvey and Howie. I don’t usually name inanimate objects, but when you curse something a lot it does seem more satisfying if it has a name. And spinning on Harvey does seem to be a matter of forming a relationship based on negotiation and affection.

Harvey, as he turned out to be, seemed to require a lot faster foot pedaling than the other wheels to keep going, possibly because the wheel bit is smaller. This meant I had to spin at, well, a faster pace than would allow me to get some refinement into it. I was a bit jealous of Danielle, who managed to produce a nice thin thread! But I think the small bit of experience I’ve had has, at least, helped me to avoid putting big chunky bits in mine.

This is the spinning I did during the week:

This is what I managed at the class:

I’m very tempted to mail order myself a flicker today so I can avoid combing. It would be better for my hands. And I need alternatives to knitting. Last night, after having spun all day, I turned to my other fibery distraction:

I didn’t get much actual weaving done. But warping up the loom kept me occupied for a while. This is the coffee coloured version of the slubby chocolate yarn. I think I shall call this my chocolate mocha blanket.