We left on Sunday morning for our camping trip after postponing for various reasons, including rain. Because we changed plans, I thought I'd get to bring my spinning wheel, but as we started to pack the car, I could see it wasn't going to happen. With a canoe on top, we couldn't bring the car top carrier, and the car was FULL. In the end, I threw in my spindle and some brown mill ends.
It poured on us during the drive to James River State Park, but it was only drizzling when we got there. The river was beautiful, and I had visions of getting my husband to take a picture of me spinning on the banks of the river. It didn't happen like that. First we broke out the ponchos. Then I made lunch under the hatch back of the car while my husband scouted tent sites. Then we ate, and it finally quit raining. We used the break to get camp set up. When we were all done, it was settling into dusk. I was about to get out my spindle, when my husband said, "I'm going to try out the canoe before it gets dark. Want to come?" Was I going to say no to an offer like that? When we got back, it was time for dinner. While I was cooking, my son made a fire. With some lighter-fluid help, he finally got the damp wood burning. After dinner, we all settle around the fire and I pulled out my spindle...and it started to rain. We all jumped up to clean up everything before it got too wet. We got the little kids into the tent, then did the dishes in the rain before following them. I couldn't let the last day of Spinzilla end without the tiniest bit of spinning, so I ended up trying to spin while sitting on the floor of my tent holding the spindle above my head. I got a couple of yards of bad singles before my kids asked if I'd please turn the flashlight off. Ah, well. At least I got something to add to my total.
The rest of the camping trip was great! Monday was a beautiful dry day. We canoed, explored, and enjoyed the weather. We came home Tuesday, and I was starting to worry about getting my singles plyed so that I could count up my totals. I thought I still had enough time. Well, nothing ever goes as planned, and I ran out of time. I managed to ply the white wool, but had to use a balance to estimate the red. I wound the purple off and measured, then wound it back on, and my little bit of brown was easy to measure with a tape measure.
My total was 2243 yards spun. This is so much more than I've ever spun in a short time before, I have to be happy. I spun more than I had pre-drafted, so that means I had to have done more than I thought I might. I also learned to spin from the fold and to love the fluffiness of woolen spun yarn. I'd call that a success. The only trouble? I learned a bit too much how to spin woolen, and my white wool, third of three skeins, seems to be a lot more woolen-ish and fluffy than worstedish and smooth. am I going o have to spin a whole 'nother skein to match the first two?
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