Back when I decided to learn how to spin, wheels were not very common outside of museums. "Choice" was limited, no one in my area knew of anyone selling wheels, shops did not carry them, books were limited to older used ones which could not be found (no computers, no Amazon, no Alibris), and Spin Off was either an annual publication or a few pages of newsprint...I've forgotten which. Besides, choice made no difference - I could not spin and had never even seen anyone actually spin so had no way to evaluate a wheel except on looks alone.

We lived on the low desert so wool was not commonly available, though sheep were common as large flocks of meat breeds were always over wintered in our valley. These sheep did such a good job of cleaning up the fields after the alfalfa had been harvested that we decided to get a couple of sheep to keep the weeds down on our acre. While my husband saw lawn mowers on the hoof, I was a knitter and a weaver and saw sweaters and blankets.....if only I knew how to harvest the wool, clean it, and turn it into yarn.

We figured out the harvesting part. Once a year, the shearers came through and set up for shearing the large flocks. All (All?) we had to do was load up our two sheep and drive them to the shearing venue. Shearing was free if we gave them the wool but we had to pay a few dollars if we wanted our fleece back. I figured out the washing part. Knowing nothing of different breeds of sheep and differing wool properties, I was lucky that our sheep were Suffolks and that the wool did not turn into a massive felt ball. I figured out carding and tracked down a pair of hand cards.

How to turn the fiber into yarn was still elusive. I knew that a spinning wheel was needed but that was the extent of my knowledge on the subject. Then the weaver’s organization in our State held a large conference in a near-by large city and I was able to attend. Lo and behold - there was a vendor selling spinning wheels! I happily bought one. With no idea of what I needed or wanted in a wheel, I decided based on price alone and bought a very inexpensive, kind of ugly, very basic wheel. After all, I was a knitter and a weaver and really did not need another hobby and I only intended to spin enough yarn to make two sweaters, one for me and one for my husband and maybe an afghan if I had enough yarn left over. I never had any intention of spinning anything beyond that.

As things turned out, I never was able to spin on that wheel. I struggled with it for a year before buying a second wheel to learn to spin on. Fact is that to this day I still struggle with that particular popular brand of wheels - they simply do not work well for me.

While I was struggling with the wheel, we moved and I had to give up my sheep. And I missed them horribly. So when we moved again, it was to a small sheep farm. Now I had a lot more wool to deal with and thought I’d better get serious about spinning. Which led, as these things to another wheel and another wheel and yet another wheel..and one day I counted and there were 29 of them. So much for “I don’t need another hobby” and “only spinning enough for 2 sweaters and maybe an afghan”.

Besides the wheels, the stash also piled up. Not only from my sheep but fibers purchased from vendors - cottons, silks, synthetics, flax, dog and cat hair, exotic fibers, camelid fibers, even the fluff from cottonwood trees. Bookcases had to be purchased to house the growing collection of sheep and spinning related books and magazines and sample notebooks. And the equipment piled up: hand cards, drum carders, niddy noddies, skein winders, swifts, wool combs in different sizes and pitches, small spinning tools. And I discovered the world of antique spinning wheels.

Somewhere along the way spinning went from “I don’t need another hobby” to a full-blown obsession. It has been and continues to be an incredible journey which has taken me down many curious, twisting, and interesting paths and led to many wonderful experiences and many good friends. If there is one thing I have learned as a spinner, it’s how much I don’t know about spinning. As we enter a new year, I can’t help but wonder where this obsession will lead in the days ahead...but I know it will be fascinating.

May you all have a wonderful fiber filled and happy New Year!