Not re-inventing the wheel, just assembling it.

I finally got a spinning wheel of my own. A Schacht Ladybug that spins beautifully. It took 8 weeks to get here, and my local yarn store lent me the use of another Ladybug for 4 weeks. Thanks very much to Suzanne at Hill Country Weavers in Austin, Texas for that particular kindness. It took me about 1 hour to assemble - with child help. It might have been faster without it, but not as much fun.

Now, I started to spin thinking that it would give me more control over my knitting. I thought that now I could pick exactly the fiber I wanted, in exactly the color, exactly the shade, exactly the weight of yarn, exactly.... What I have learned in the last two years is that the fiber is going to do what it wants to for the most part. I can pick the color and shade, yes. I can pick the fiber, yes. If it is not meant to be fine lace-weight, it will not even begin to cooperate. What I have learned is that I have to make good decisions to begin with, but I will have to let the yarn be what it is going to be. What I have learned is that the fiber has more control of me. Sounds like having children.