It hasn’t been the best of months; for various reasons I’ve been feeling like the the proverbial rug has been pulled out from under my feet. A lot of the time I haven’t felt like knitting, but spinning is a separate matter.

I find it incredibly soothing, setting the spindle turning, drafting, watching the twist travel up the fibre, winding the single ply onto the spindle when the shaft is almost hitting the floor. Even with my inexpert spinning, I’m pleased with the evenness that my ply is taking on and the fact that the motions of spinning are becoming more natural to me.

For a while, I was using Ali’s lovely Kundert spindle, but then this beauty arrived:

I’ve spun most nights this week and the spindle got several admiring looks from the ladies at Lower Shaw Farm knitting circle. I wouldn’t say spinning is mindless, because you do have to be aware of the thread, but it allows a more relaxed mindset than perhaps knitting (especially lace) will allow.