# Spinning-Surprise Christmas present!!



## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

So we had done all the presents, tidied up the dining room and started getting Christmas dinner ready. My mum sent me out to the freezer in the garage to grab some bacon, I unlocked the door to find this beauty staring at me...

I guess this is my life now! :sm09: Now I need to figure out how the hell to use it...


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## TammyK (Jan 31, 2011)

Lucky you! :sm24:


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## LindaH (Feb 1, 2011)

Wonderful gift!!


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

How nice for you.....very pretty wheel. Lots to learn and lots of fun. We are here to help.


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## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

Thank you!!! I've managed to set it up properly and sort of getting hang of treadling, just been trying to practice drafting while half watching Call the Midwife (it's second hand off Gumtree, the lady chucked in a huge sack of tops to get me started as my mum was the first serious buyer for it!!); it's not as easy as you guys make it look!! But I'm sure I'll get there, I really appreciate any help you guys can offer. Funny thing is...out of all my friends' getting Playstation games, iPads and whatever, everyone wants to come round mine and have a go on it! Best Christmas present I could ever ask for.


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## crafterwantabe (Feb 26, 2013)

Lucky lucky you...


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## crafterwantabe (Feb 26, 2013)

Sorry double post


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Oh a sweet wheel and a lovely wheel.


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## run4fittness (May 22, 2011)

Aren't you the lucky one! I want to learn also. Sometime..........


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## BirchPoint (Feb 12, 2016)

Enjoy!


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Wow great gift. You will get it. Cause If I can do it so can you. Practice makes perfect. Try some store bought cheap yarn so you can feel the pull keep that foot going slow and steady. Once you can start the wheel with out touching it and stopping with out touching it try your yarn adjust tension spin it like you were spinning it. You spin clockwise and ply counter clock wise. Practice practice and more practice. You go girl.


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## sbeth53 (Mar 29, 2011)

What a wonderful surprise for you :sm02:


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## Woodstockgranny (Feb 6, 2013)

Congratulations! You two will be best friends in no time!


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## PamRDH (Mar 15, 2016)

Wish we were neighbors, lol! Got mine at beginning of this past summer and don't spend nearly as much time teaching myself as I need. And we could have mama879 guide us. Need to be closer to her, too!


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## spins2knit (Jul 29, 2013)

Violet, you are one lucky girl. Alli it takes is practice and you will have it mastered. Enjoy!


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## gardenpoet (Jun 24, 2016)

What a very thoughtful gift. How beautiful for you— a lifetime of creating and learning.


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## marciawm (Jun 2, 2015)

Lucky you


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## Jiggs (Jan 21, 2016)

Beautiful gift! Something I would like to try - in the future - lol


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## brenda m (Jun 2, 2011)

Great gift. Enjoy. I've never tried to spin, but love my rigid heddle looms and now the youngest has given me a lovely yarn bowl. She says I have enough yarn!


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## Spinningmary (Feb 18, 2014)

I assume you are London UK you know London has a large Guild of Weavers spinners and Dyers, useful source of hands on help.


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## lovey (Nov 11, 2011)

:sm24:


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## MrsMurdog (Apr 16, 2013)

All I have to say is start watching her videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/ghfibers.


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## Melody-Ann (Apr 11, 2017)

What a fantastic gift! You've got a lot of fun in store!


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## spinninggill (Apr 9, 2011)

Wonderful gift. Lots of practice, especially with treadling on its own at first, so controlling the wheel becomes automatic. try to connect with a guild or a tutor to help you initially - it's easier than watching videos, as they give a mirror image. If you can find a tutor, ask to stand behind her/him as they demonstrate, so that you get the correct 'view'. Google guilds in London and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. Enjoy.


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## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

I was told a guild would be a good idea for me to check out, I'm in South London so my best bet would probably be Kent or Surrey as the city isn't really good for stuff like that. I've managed to spin about 18 grams, it's a bit bumpy and over-twisted in parts but I'm having fun which is the most important thing!
My main question (obviously) right now though is...sheepy smell. The fleece I got is pretty odourless but once it got wet it made my kitchen smell like a farmyard! I'm guessing this is trace lanolin in the fibres; is there a way that any of you would recommend to displace this with something at least a little more neutral? Vinegar? Hair conditioner? Eucalan? Home made version of Eucalan? Empty a can of Axe Africa over it and hope for the best?


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## Hazel Blumberg - McKee (Sep 9, 2011)

Oh, wow! It's beautiful! I'll bet you figure it out quickly. There are loads of helpful videos on the Web. Please keep us posted on how you're doing with your new, gorgeous spinning wheel.

Hazel


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## Spinningmary (Feb 18, 2014)

Some smell from raw or lightly washed fleece is inevitable. The natural oils make it easier to spin. Wash your finished skein in hand hot water with a little Fairy Liquid. Rinse, hang up to dry and the smell of sheep will have gone.
Ram fleece can be smelly as can any badly stored in plastic.


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## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

I have plenty of fairly liquid so I'll give that a bash with my next skein, do I need a fabric conditioner of some sort to get the soft back into it?


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

What type of fleece are you spinning have you carded it or using it right off the fleece. I know you do not have dawn dish washing liquid by you but you can wash little a bit and let it dry Then you can pull some of it to spin once you spin then you ply in the opposite direction Once you have a 2 ply soak it in warm water but make sure you tie it in 4 places with other type of yarn.This is called setting the twist it will soften up the yarn. You can thwack it or just hang it with a weight on the bottom. There was some discussion on this a while ago. Good reading. By the way I thwack some do some do not. Youtube has wonderful videos you should watch some.


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## MousePotatoKnits (Oct 23, 2013)

I would love to have one. Lucky you!


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## Spinningmary (Feb 18, 2014)

Fabric conditioner is optional. I sometimes use hair conditioner. Beware it changes the ph so affects natural dyeing results.


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## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

Thanks for that! I'll have some experiments.



mama879 said:


> What type of fleece are you spinning have you carded it or using it right off the fleece. I know you do not have dawn dish washing liquid by you but you can wash little a bit and let it dry Then you can pull some of it to spin once you spin then you ply in the opposite direction Once you have a 2 ply soak it in warm water but make sure you tie it in 4 places with other type of yarn.This is called setting the twist it will soften up the yarn. You can thwack it or just hang it with a weight on the bottom. There was some discussion on this a while ago. Good reading. By the way I thwack some do some do not. Youtube has wonderful videos you should watch some.


Our version of Dawn is Fairy and I got oodles of that!  Unfortunately I don't know what the breed fleece is except that it's off a sheep and I don't think I'll ever find out! But I have been carding before spinning.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Sounds like you are on your way. Here is my first experience with a wheel.....I couldn't do it myself so my one granddaughter spun the wheel for me to start it.. the other granddaughter worked the pedal and I only drafted. Lol. Finally, I tried working the wheel to start and then I finally started working the pedal. Too funny. Time, practice, YouTube and all the wonderful help here finally got me going. And most of all.....have fun.


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## Violet.C (Feb 17, 2017)

Thanks! I had my best friend over for New Years for a crafty weekend and she had a right kerfuffle trying to work the thing (not treadling fast enough so the wheel kept going back and forth, yelling "WHAT THE F- DO I DO WITH MY HANDS????") so I plonked her on the knitting machine with a glass of wine before she threw it out the window :') I finally knit something with the third ball I spun, where I actually managed to scour the fleece properly (the before and after looks like a toothpaste commercial) and plied it with a pink cotton thread to make the learning lumps into feature slubs!


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Wow I think you got it. Glad you save your wheel. Next time she comes over show how. You are doing great. Keep it up.


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