•8:30 PM
We recently had an opportunity to participate in a spinning class. No, it wasn't at the gym although I really could have used it. :-) This class was about the history of spinning fibers into yarn... and then learning how to do it.
The class was held at a place called Yarnivore in San Antonio, on NW Military Drive. Be sure to check out their classes and events if you check out their site. They have lots of them.
Wendy showed us many tools for spinning yarn. The one shown here is a Native American Indian spindle. The fiber is in her left hand and the yard that has been spun is on the spindle in her right hand.
This homemade spindle is called a drop spindle because the spindle continues to spin when you drop it. These are the ones we put together and used to do our own spinning.
On her left side is a bag of raw wool. It has a yellowish color and has an animal smell, obviously. This was from a very clean sheep. The bag on her right is wool that has been soaked in hot water and soap. You can still feel the lanolin in it. That's what she's spinning there.
This spinning tool was developed later by the Indians (from India). Wendy had a very interesting story about this. When the British controlled India, they remained for so long because they were not able to grow their own cotton due to the climate. India was perfect. So, they would buy the cotton from the Indians for barely anything, send it to England, spin and weave it into cloth and sell it back to the Indians for a huge amount.
The ruler of India wanted Indians to be independent, so he had these neat little spinning wheels made and wanted every household in India to have one. They began making their own and were able to become independent. In 1931, they're official flag had a spinning wheel on it.
This young lady is showing us how to use the spinning wheel, the tool we're all most familiar with. Guess what we learned? There is nothing sharp on a spinning wheel. The story of Sleeping Beauty was told way before the modern spinning wheel. The spindle that she was poked with was more like the Native American Indian spindle with a sharp point at the end.
As easy as Wendy made it look, we realized that she has had a ton of practice! Spinning takes practice to build the skill! It wasn't easy to figure this out. But we did end up with a beautiful hand spun yarn.
This was a very educational and fun experience! It was a four hour class, which was well worth the money, but a little out of our budget as it would be for most homeschool families. If you plan to attend one of these classes, be sure that you understand the $15 per participant means that it's $15 per child and another $15 for mom, plus you will either have to purchase your own supplies for the spindle or pay Wendy for the supplies, which I believe is very inexpensive. We didn't have to pay for the fibers, but that may have been a break for us. I think she usually does charge extra for them.
The class was held at a place called Yarnivore in San Antonio, on NW Military Drive. Be sure to check out their classes and events if you check out their site. They have lots of them.
Wendy showed us many tools for spinning yarn. The one shown here is a Native American Indian spindle. The fiber is in her left hand and the yard that has been spun is on the spindle in her right hand.
This homemade spindle is called a drop spindle because the spindle continues to spin when you drop it. These are the ones we put together and used to do our own spinning.On her left side is a bag of raw wool. It has a yellowish color and has an animal smell, obviously. This was from a very clean sheep. The bag on her right is wool that has been soaked in hot water and soap. You can still feel the lanolin in it. That's what she's spinning there.
This spinning tool was developed later by the Indians (from India). Wendy had a very interesting story about this. When the British controlled India, they remained for so long because they were not able to grow their own cotton due to the climate. India was perfect. So, they would buy the cotton from the Indians for barely anything, send it to England, spin and weave it into cloth and sell it back to the Indians for a huge amount.
The ruler of India wanted Indians to be independent, so he had these neat little spinning wheels made and wanted every household in India to have one. They began making their own and were able to become independent. In 1931, they're official flag had a spinning wheel on it.
This young lady is showing us how to use the spinning wheel, the tool we're all most familiar with. Guess what we learned? There is nothing sharp on a spinning wheel. The story of Sleeping Beauty was told way before the modern spinning wheel. The spindle that she was poked with was more like the Native American Indian spindle with a sharp point at the end.
As easy as Wendy made it look, we realized that she has had a ton of practice! Spinning takes practice to build the skill! It wasn't easy to figure this out. But we did end up with a beautiful hand spun yarn. 
This was a very educational and fun experience! It was a four hour class, which was well worth the money, but a little out of our budget as it would be for most homeschool families. If you plan to attend one of these classes, be sure that you understand the $15 per participant means that it's $15 per child and another $15 for mom, plus you will either have to purchase your own supplies for the spindle or pay Wendy for the supplies, which I believe is very inexpensive. We didn't have to pay for the fibers, but that may have been a break for us. I think she usually does charge extra for them.
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