Spindling

On my recent trip to Perth for work purposes, I was able to pop into BilbyYarns, a little store in Myaree and have a wonderfully long chat to the proprietor, June Lynn. From my understanding, Bilby Yarns is the storefront for the Melanian Sheep Society, and all the fleece, fibres and yarns in there are locally produced and made. June was a delight, extremely helpful and obliging in my millions of questions about spinning, roving, fleece, everything - something that all LYS should have ;)


The main purpose for me popping into Bilby Yarns was to talk / research / buy a spinning wheel. Bilby Yarns stocks Ashford spinning wheels and associated accessories, and also has on consignment, several second hand wheels. At the time I was there, there was a Dutch Flax (i think?) and a locally WA handmade wheel. June let me treadle on these (as well as the Ashford Joy and Ashford Kiwi) while I got the feel for it.


In the end, I didnt buy a wheel. The kiwi was fairly limited in what it could do for me, and the Joy, while portable and therefore fantastic for my lifestyle (perth to kalgoorlie to leinster and anywhere in between), was also very limited in what it could do. I have however, ordered a new Majacraft Pioneer wheel, which I'm hoping to get today or tomorrow via the courier.




I did however come out with an Ashford spindle, some roving / tops (i dont know the difference yet) and a brand new wool winder. My last wool winder was not aligning properly so i figured it was time for a new one.


Taking it home, my first day of spindling was disastrous. I had high hopes of being a natural spinner (teehee) but alas, all i could produce was horribly overspun, undrafted, yarn barf. The next day however , something clicked and the drafting seemed effortless, and the results much better. Still overspun, and a long way to go but i'm rather pleased with my first efforts !