Good morning and Happy Saturday! I hope you’re all doing well. Things here are a little different this weekend. We lost our oldest dog this week. Lili was 17 and in failing health, and it was clearly time for us to do what all pet owners dread having to do. She was already old when she came to live with four years ago, but she was the sweetest little girl and feisty too. We all miss her very much. There are only our two dogs in the house this morning with us, and it seems so quiet.
My spinning this morning will be brief, but a much needed respite from what my week has been. There is an increasing amount of outside work to be done this time of year, and this weekend I intend to get my pool opened up. Normally I wouldn’t get to this until Memorial Day weekend, but that means it is mid-June before the water temperature is comfortable enough to go in for any length of time. This year I’d like to have it ready to use by Memorial Day weekend instead.
The spinning I do this morning will be a continuation of the workshop samples I started last Saturday. I wasn’t able to complete as many of them as I had hoped for. I spent a good part of the day on Saturday and on Sunday working in the back yard, with some leisurely spinning time later in the afternoon on both days.
Last Saturday I received the quill head for my Lendrum. This attachment basically turns your Lendrum into a driven spindle similar to a great wheel or walking wheel with the major difference being that you’re sitting at the wheel and treadling instead of standing and operating the drive wheel with your hand. I got a little bit of time to practice with it over the weekend and not much at all during the week. I’m definitely looking forward to spending some more time with it this weekend. Spinning off the tip of a quill, especially at really high ratios, definitely takes some getting used to. There are new rhythms involved for both your hands and your feet. But those high ratios (and no take up) make spinning whisper thin singles a breeze. There are fibers in my stash that I’m definitely looking to spin on the quill!
That’s about it for this week. It’s time for me to spin and then in a couple hours, head into the back yard to do my work there too. I’m sure at some point this weekend I’ll be out there spinning too.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Aaron knits...and spins, and weaves. 