Snail Spirals

Last weekend, I gave a little spinning demonstration for a children's enrichment program here in town, called Think Link. They do weekly interactive programs on various topics for pre-K and grade-school age kids, and last week was spinning! There were 18 kids there, ranging in age from 3 to 10, both boys and girls.

I used some locally-donated wool for the demonstration. It's Jacob wool, from the hobby farm of one of Emma's classmates. I've never worked with Jacob before, and it's nice. Reminded me of Border Leicester or Romney. This was a lamb fleece, and fairly soft. I had to sort and wash it before the big day, and Cobalt was extremely interested in the process!



It washed up beautifully (in the washing machine, one soapy soak and two rinses), and the white parts were bright white, the black parts were inky black. Though the fiber was soft, and the colors beautiful, I was glad that I hadn't paid for this wool. It was FULL of second cuts. I shook out and picked out as many as I could, but still there were more...

I borrowed a carder and some handcards, and brought my own combs, to demonstrate fiber prep, and showed them how my wheel works. I also made "twisty sticks" for the kids: a 7" piece of dowel with a cup hook on the end. These work sort of like drop spindles, without the whorl. You just roll them along your leg. It was really fun to see the kids figuring out how to make them work and see how thrilled they were that they could make "real yarn" with just a stick. I also let them try out the hand cards and treadling my wheel.

The drum carder I borrowed was in pretty poor condition, so all the fiber I prepared was done on the hand cards. This was the first time I used hand cards for more than just a couple rolags, and I was surprised that it was so enjoyable. Slower than a drum carder, for sure, but relaxing, and I was able to spin a bunch of my own rolags! They really do work magnificently for long draw. I blended the white and black portions of the fleece, and it made a nice heathery gray yarn. I carded probably half a pound of wool in 45 minutes, and spun about half of that the night before the demonstration, to make a sample skein. The remainder of the pre-carded rolags were for the kids to experiment with.

So it was a fun morning, even though I had the beginnings of a scratchy throat, and that was the day I took to my bed with a fever of 103˚F. I had a good time, I think the kids had a good time, and I know of at least one boy (9 years old) who has been bugging his parents for a spinning wheel.

Plus, there was a photographer there from the local paper, and last Wednesday, I made the front page!