solvang and so much more

Yesterday was a great day.  I don't think we (as people) say that often enough.  I had a great day.  John picked me up for an outing in Santa Barbara, I met some new people, ate some food (not awesome, but that's okay) and we stopped in Solvang on the way home and I was able to visit Village Spin and Weave on Alisol.  I have been once before when I purchased a nostepinne about a year ago when I first learned how to spin.  I liked their shop, but since I was still pretty new at spinning I picked up just a few ounces of fiber and then head home to practice.

I realized after a few weeks of spinning with my "CD on a stick", my fingers hurt like something awful and I needed something a little easier.  Jump forward and after reading and seeing it in action yesterday, I think I might have been doing it wrong.  As the incredibly nice woman who owns the shop says, I have good form, I think I was trying to hard.  As in - storing too much twist, spinning the stick part too vigorously and really concentrating too hard.  The new methods I learned yesterday were effortless and produced some of the nicest yarn I've ever made!



The purple I purchased 8 ounces of.  Really I'm not a lover of purple or anything, but I did really love this one.  I likened it to a candy cane with the stripes of all the colors in it.  The brown sample is a Shetland, undyed long staple fiber.  It was surprisingly fluffy and easy to spin as well.

John picked out a bag of colorful fiber and then the purple one, so I have 1 pound of fiber to practice spinning with and (hopeful) create some really nice yarn for projects.  I still have some of the last batch I purchased and with the new suggestions on plying, I have renewed hope this will be awesome!

This is the colorful tube -8 colors and ounce of each
I'm thinking some fair isle projects in my future

this is the purple, can you see all those colors?
almost a mixed berry taffy look to it
I was also fortunate to have John there to check out the next big thing at their shop.  They have a TON of spinning wheels on display and ready to test drive as it were.  What was great about this was I actually saw the sizes of the wheels in person and even better, so did John.  They are surprisingly portable, small when assembled and priced in the semi affordable range.  What I was most fascinated by was the stories behind their creation.  Overall, we both liked this wheel - it's the majacraft rose wheel.

 


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