Good day!
I am Melanie, aka mae_west. I taught myself to spin yarn over 25 years ago, using a self-made drop spindle (a wooden coaster from a thrift shop and a dowel) and fur from my pet collie. What an ordeal! I was so amazed at how easy it was to spin sheep's wool after that.
Making yarn is a disease that gets worse the longer you have it. First you learn to spin, then you learn to dye because you get tired of white and gray and black yarn. Then you learn to weave and knit because you have all this yarn to do something with. THEN you start making baskets because you need to have something to put all this stuff in. So it goes.
I love making yarn, starting with a lovely, fresh fleece as it comes straight from the sheep, watching the transformation of raw fleece as it comes from the wash tub, soft, clean and nice to handle (sort of like a freshly bathed child!). I love taking a clean lock of wool and spinning it right into yarn, and then envisioning how the yarn will eventually live out its life as a sock or sweater or hat. It's alchemy!
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