Can't ignore the spinning goddesses

I am stubbornly continuing to insist that I will contain my spinning efforts to spindles only. Why? Well, I don't have the time, money, and space for a full out spinning hobby. I have several tubs of yarn waiting to be knit up, and many queued projects in Ravelry. If I spin yarn, then I have to do something with it, though for me, the fun part is the spinning. If I get a wheel, I need space for it, and that's a challenge. Then I'd start buying batts, and (God forbid!) fleeces - OMG a whole new obsession:) and consort with other spindlers on Ravelry.

So to make things worse, and push me more towards temptation I went to a carding workshop at A Tangled Skein my LYS in Hyattsville, MD last night. It was their 4th Friday Sit and Spin group. Anne O'Connor, spinning teacher extraordinaire, helped newbies learn wool carding using both hand carders and drum carders. Two spinners brought their drum carders so there were 3 drum carders and several sets of hand carders and of course these spinners were already experts. The result of my efforts are shown in the picture on top. After carding, I spun some of it on my Golding spindle. I blended some purple and green fiber, trying both the hand carders and the drum carder. The results from the drum carder are prettier, and easier to achieve. But the hand carders cost around $55 and the drum carders about ten times as much.

When I came home I had a response on the Carolina Homespun forum which let me know that the webpage info for the Summer 2009 Golden Gate Fiber Institute had been updated. I get to take two classes - 6 mornings and 6 afternoons for 18 hours of class for each topic. One of the choices (there are 6) is Spindle Spinning - prerequisite is the ability to make a continuous thread on a hand spindle. I guess I have to practice :). There is talk of adding to our collection of spindles (I only have 2 right now) and bringing " both your favorite and your most troublesome spindles, your plying tools, and your niddy-noddy. If you have them, bring hand cards and combs. " Hmm - I don't have a niddy-noddy, and am not sure what plying tools are (I learned to ply yarn using toilet paper tubes and a cardboard box).
I think that a week long spindle spinning class is a sign. The spinning goddesses are letting me know that I can stick to spindle spinning and be happy. I can even spend a week in beautiful Golden Gate National Recreation Area at Point Bonita, and do it. I can't ignore the goddesses so I will focus on spindle spinning while waiting for the summer.