The kids were interested in the making of rolags on the blending board but the real excitement came when I did the first long back draw and suddenly a long length of yarn appeared; and again when I plied the red with the cream and they could see how the twist was made. Herself has obviously not knitted for a very long time so, as we were way overtime I took over and did a couple of rows.
There was one little boy (they were all grade I, so about five or six) who said that his granny had a wheel just like E.Roberta (who didn't get a look-in) and that she was teaching him to knit. this I applaud - knitting used to be a part of men's work while the unmarried girls did the spinning.
I won't bother to take E.Roberta next time and I should have ascertained how long we had. I sort of assumed 40 minute classes which was what we had when I was at school. However, I am pleased to report that E.Emma behaved herself and spun 'Z' and plied 'S' without protest and even self-started when I asked her to.
I have finished the first skein of the 'Jewel' plaits and, as I suspected, they are rather dingy. Not altogether bad as I don't want the vest I am planning to be garish. But that will have to wait for a while: I almost destroyed my thumbs trying to draft the fibres and even after ruthless pre-drafting it was still difficult. At the moment I am spinning my BFL pigtails and having a lot of fun. They are easy to draft - almost spin themselves and they really ARE going to be a bit garish; I hope. I might knit the pull-through scarf with them if there is enough yarn. I am looking forward to spinning the 'Rosewood' plaits now and there will be heaps for a long sweater; and I have two plaits of 'Cupcake' from the Greenwood Fibre Club which is also BFL tops.
Here is a picture of the first skein of 'Jewel'. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
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