Fiber Fascination - Part Two

As I continued to play with crochet, mother was knitting. She would tell me - knitting is the fine work. We went to knit shops, looked at patterns, and what do you think - I was smitten. First I knitted washcloths, then the cutest baby hats - and I was off. Knitting was my newest passion, and I bought the happy hookers guide to knitting and had a blast. So you see, my friends, the fourth step into fiber was knitting. I amassed a small library of knitting books, and poured over pictures and patterns. Many of them were beyond my skill, but I was into reading them anyway. I have books with heirloom patterns and patterns recovered from old trunks. And more fiber stash. Much more.

Then, while looking for knitting supplies, I was browsing on the web and saw some fabulous bunnies - I fell in love with them. I learned that they were needle felted, and away we went. I just had to learn how – after all, I am thewildhare! Purchasing raw wool and beautiful carded rovings and batts (what WAS a roving and a batt anyway? I had so much to learn!), I felted chicks and eggs and bunnies and soaps and dinosaurs! I loved the feel of the raw wool, and the smooth silkiness of the finished fibers. I loved the colors, the creations, and the tools. I felted bowls and beads and brooches. I studied about felt; the feel, the texture, the properties, the amazing water resistance and warmth. I felted purses and necklaces. Another step down the fiber road, felting was fifth.

Many of you have seen my feltings, and I do love them. In fact, in line with my total fiber fascination, I have made scrapbooks about them! I have included them in my monthly scrapbook pages, and written journalings about the joy of making the little bowls and using them.

I have talked about the life coming to the bunnies eyes as I felted them, and how I loved the dragon Fiercely.



But the fiber story didn't stop yet. And so I find that here we are, one more tiny step closer to the end (or is that the beginning???). I just had to understand the difference in rovings and batts, and as I researched and read, I learned about SPINNING. And oh my, what a world, what a world. I read every word on many spinners blogs, I learned about fleece and how it is washed, prepared and cleaned, dyed and carded – sometimes on “hand cards” that look like large dog brushes with shorted tines – sometimes on a fabulous creation called a drum carder. I learned about the amazing mystery of fiber and how it is molecularly structured, and how that structure makes fiber turn into string and yarn and thread and all the other wonderful materials that we use to make, oh, everything. I learned that scientists have found spun woolly mammoth fibers, which connects me with ancestors at the very beginning of our time on the planet. I learned about spindles and the many ways to spin fibers, and I learned about wheels and spinning machines. I am still learning, as you might expect. There is a wealth of information to be had, to learn, process, and understand. I now have spinning books, and just the other night I made a spindle out of things I had sitting around the house. And once I had the spindle, I picked up some of that New Zealand Corridale wool that I had reserved for needle felting, and guess what? I spun.

Here is my spindle. You can see the raw fiber and the spun fiber in this picture.

This is a close up of my first spinning. Yarn. Right there. How about that!?!?

So what happens next? Hmmm? Stay tuned. More on the fiber and my growing (can you believe that) fascination coming soon.