13 May 2013

On the road again...

This week, I am in Cheshire, staying in a town called Audlem but spending my days about 5 miles away at the studio of a textile person where I hope to improve my hand spinning by learning some more about the preparation of fleeces and better hand spinning techniques: I expect to work very hard for the next three days.....

I managed to get all of my important equipment, including 2 spinning wheels (one is folding for travelling about, the other better staying in one place) into my car, with difficulty. I have brought 5 large bags of fleece and one very large and I can't say for sure how many fleeces they contain but it has to be at least 10. Sorting them out will give me lots of practice under supervision and then I might finally be on the road to better outcomes. Hand spinning yarn is not easy or quick in any way, although once you have the knack, it does become easier and that's when you begin to realise that the end result lacks polish: that's where I am at. My ambition is to make most of my own yarns but I am quite a way off that yet, especially in terms of quality and reliability of what comes off the wheel.

I hope to be able to write about my week as it goes along but, as usual, access to the Net is at best unreliable, so I may not manage too much unless I go and have my tea in the same pub as I went to tonight (the ...............), where they have free WiFi and don't ask for all your information in return.

Audlem has a very striking church. It is on a mound in the centre of the town placed in such a way that I feel someone made a mistake and really meant to make it a castle; even the architecture is rather majestic. The Shropshire Union canal runs through the town but I haven't managed to find a way of accessing it by car: I am hoping to do so sometime but it will depend upon the weather because as much as I enjoy walking tow paths, I don't relish getting soaked.


Today is my first day of spinning and as the sun is out for the moment, I am looking forward to the trip to Fiona's studio. I will try and post more later if I can get the facilities to do so.

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