Oh, this is bad...

I witnessed spinning for the first time today, and it was GLORIOUS! I walked in to Stitch 'N Bitch today at Hank's, and was greeted by a lovely young lady spinning some gorgeous chocolate & strawberry colored roving. I'm pretty sure my eyes got as wide as dinner plates, and I know my jaw dropped. Watching people make things stops me dead in my tracks every time. Yeah, I was that kid nose-printing the plexiglass so I could watch the grocery store cake decorators. I think I stopped breathing for while when I saw glass blowing for the first time, too. But the spinning?

It.

Was.

Awesome.

Spinning appeals to the same instinct that made me pick up knitting/crochet to begin with: the driving need to do things myself. It's a natural progression:
1) I start knitting because I can't find the Perfect Scarf in the store.
2) As I discover I can't find the Perfect Pattern for the scarf I want to knit, I design my own.
3) When I am unable to find the Perfect Yarn yarn in the store, I decide to make my own.

As soft as my kitties are, I don't think they'd take kindly to shearing or drafting, so the next step of raising my own fiberific animals will have to wait. Ah, but spinning fiber from other people's animals? That I can do now.

The conversation turned to using a drop spindle, as a full-on spinning wheel is a bit of an investment to make based on impulse curiosity. A spindle was dug up, and the demo proceeded. I was absolutely gobsmacked to see someone use a couple of tinkertoys & a mug hook to turn this puffy nebula of fiber into a thin, beautiful ply. I must do this. I must.

I tried to explain to my husband the glory that had been revealed to me today, but he got that look on his face that says, "I can tell you're excited because you're hopping around and using the squirell voice again; however, I don't understand a word." He will understand one day. Or he will at least learn to fake it.

So yes, another crafty ambition has officially hit me. I don't know when I'll get a chance to actually try spinning, as I'm going to use it as a proverbial carrot to get me to finish the million projects I have planned already. I just know that I'm gonna do it, doggonit! I think I'm mostly excited by the prospect of a new class of fiber goods being accessible to me. Yay for roving!