There was a slight pause in my sweater knitting for Adelaide, when I realized that I was out of the brown I had used at the point of the sleeves, and needed to use again to pick the sleeves up. Thank goodness, really, that the yarn is in my backyard. Or rather, that her fleece is in my studio. So the sweater knitting was on hold while I made that yarn. This, from Little Friend Susan, and spun in the grease (then washed before knitting). It took a couple of late nights to make the two skeins I think I'll need to finish the sweater, but they were lovely late evenings in front of the fire with my wheel. The hours were spent either talking politics with the boys (I love what they have to say about it all, their perspective so fresh and insightful at this age!), or listening to my book (I'm currently "reading" through A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and enjoying it very much), or making my way through an entire season (oops! that happened quickly!) of A Place to Call Home. It's been many hours logged on that wheel of mine this week, and I'm starting to feel the rewards. I don't know how many times a day I remind the kids that they're not going to be able to do this, that, or the other thing that they want to do if they don't practice. And how often I preach to them the benefits of a daily practice especially, particularly in the case of musical instruments or a new tool. Yes, well, this Mama could certainly turn that advice around on herself when it comes to spinning. After this week, I can't even imagine how much more comfortable I'd feel behind the wheel if I continued this daily. It's exciting, really. And exciting too in the revelation that my children are all old enough now that I can actually leave my wheel out, in my cozy spot, in the living room, without fear of little hands or fingers messing with it too much. They're all perfectly old enough to understand and respect it. Ah! That's a game changer, that is, not having to haul it out each and every time I might have ten minutes to spin. All good things, all good things. And a sweater resumed. Have I told you lately how much I love yarn?
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Greetings! I'm Amanda Blake Soule - mother of five, author of four books on family creativity, editor & owner of Taproot Magazine. I live with my family in an old farmhouse in Western Maine where we raise animals, grow vegetables and make lots of things. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting!
