On Mother's Day I got to spend some uninterrupted, unaccompanied time in the book store. I came across the book by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts called "Spinning in the Old Way". I hadn't really seen any books on spinning in
*any* way before, so I plopped down cross-legged on the floor and began to go through the book.Wow. I really think I want to do this.
My questions to the group are:
1) How expensive is pre-carded (and perhaps pre-dyed) wool and other fibers? When I'm all done spinning, will the cost for, say, 100 yards of self-spun yarn be comparable to the cost of 100 yards of pre-spun, shop yarn?2) How messy of a process is it? Will I need a completely separate working area where fluff can fly free, or is this something I can do in the living room with relatively easy cleanup afterwards? I'm having a baby in four weeks and I already have two kids and two cats, so I would like to keep the airborne fluff to a minimum and fiber driblets off the floor as much as possible.
3) I see many hand spindles for sale online, but if I opt to buy one instead of making my own is there a place that is reputable that you could recommend to me? The same for fibers, I guess. I don't really know where to begin finding well-crafted tools and supplies I can trust.The thought of being able to spin my own fibers for use in my own crochet projects appeals to me greatly. I can imagine that in time I will want to take the process all the way back to the actual carding and cleaning of the wool after shearing, but with my kids around and the way my personal craft time is scheduled I'm going to have to make do with using pre-carded and pre-cleaned fibers and either pre-dyed ones or ones that I can dye at home using faster, non-toxic and safe methods.
Any advice or tips or book recommendations are most welcome. I will be buying the Gibson-Roberts book soon, I think, unless someone has a better title to offer me as an introduction to the craft.
--Threnody