Rumpledstiltskin

I recently bought a spinning wheel off of craigslist.  As if I didn't have enough projects already, I decided to learn to spin yarn in my (limited) free time from farming.  The man I bought the wheel from was selling it for his mother, didn't know how it worked, and rather sheepishly (no pun intended) offered me two bags of wool...he said most people had been grossed out and said no, because they were unwashed.  Dirt, twigs, dead bugs and all.  But an unwashed fleece is nothing compared to what I encounter on a daily farm basis, so I excitedly said yes, brought everything home, and began Googling "how to clean fleeces/wool for spinning".

One bag I believe contained alpaca fibers.  (The other was wool, but in washing it, I think I accidentally started the felting process.)  What you see here is the alpaca.

After hours of hand-carding, picking out bits of dirt and leaves, and careful stopping and starting of the pedal, I finally spun some yarn! It's still lumpy and uneven in places, hence the title of this blog, but if anyone's going to try this on their own, my advice is to think of it like riding a bike...wobbly at first, but with enough practice and patience, you'll figure it out!