{"id":8036,"date":"2022-05-07T07:58:55","date_gmt":"2022-05-07T05:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=8036"},"modified":"2022-05-07T07:58:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T05:58:57","slug":"spin-where-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/spin-where-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Spin where you are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s easy to get carried away or stressed by everything you see other spinners do on social media, especially since they only show a small and polished portion of reality. Today I encourage you to spin where you are, in terms of place, tools, skills and mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a volunteer cultivation advisor at our allotment association. Many of the tenants are enthusiastic and dream of abundance in bloom and harvest. But depending on the circumstances of the allotment it is not always possible to grow the plants they have dreamed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past week I have been preparing a presentation for the allotment tenants about cultivating where we are, in our allotment and the context in which it is situated \u2013 the type of soil it offers, the trees around it and the roots underneath it. I want the allotments gardeners to be able to grow an allotment in their context and with their experience. It may flourish, just not always in the crops they had imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Josefin the cultivation advisor. Parsley is a perfect crop for a shady patch. Also not very appealing to slugs and deer, it seems.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I was planning the lecture I saw parallels to spinning. Sometimes I get the sense that spinners feel bad because they think they should be able to spin better, more and know more techniques. Spinning to me is a place of ease, an activity that doesn’t make demands on me and a place of allowing. But it’s also easy to get carried away from things you see other spinners do online or in person. Today I want to encourage you to spin where you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are all on different levels. Some people have spun for decades and some for only weeks. Even if the experienced spinner probably will know a thing or two more than the beginner we all bring our unique perspectives. I love being a beginner since I don’t feel any expectations. I don’t know any of the established dos and don’ts. Sooner or later I will, and I will also learn why they have been labeled as dos and don’ts, but in the moment I look at the craft with fresh and innocent eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Processed flax from my experimental flax patch 2014\u20132019. I was once a beginner. Year by year I have added to my experience bank. Some years I succeed and some I don’t. But I always learn and that’s my goal with growing flax.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I learn a lot from my students, sometimes I think I learn more than the students themselves. Often the questions from a beginner give me more to reflect on that the question from the experienced spinner. A beginner will challenge my established pattern of teaching and understanding spinning. I need to challenge my methods of teaching, peel off the layers of my habitual patterns and come back to that blank slate to find a channel to the beginner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A beginner spinner challenges my way of teaching and talking about spinning. I need to find the channel to where they are in their spinning . Supported spindle and bowl by Bj\u00f6rn Peck<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have actually been a beginner several times as a spinner, especially connected to changing hands in the spinning project. If you are up for an adventure, take my five-day challenge Hands-on<\/a>, where you will play with switching your spinning and fiber hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of spinning tools out there and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by them. Like so many other hobbies, spinning can be a tool sport, but it doesn’t have to be. All you need is fiber and a weight or a stick and you’re good to go. Even if I have a lot of spindles I only have two spinning wheels, one of which is my stationary wheel that I use. I don’t own a drum carder, wool picker or blending board. My go-to tools for fiber preparation is my hand cards and my combs, sometimes a flicker, sometimes just my hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I use combs and\/or cards for nearly every spinning project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s a great idea to try new tools at spinning guilds or fiber festivals and see what they are like. Chew on them for a bit. Do they suit you? Your wallet? Your home? Use what you have and what you are comfortable with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we don’t feel we have enough time to spin. So many thing crave our attention. But even just a few minutes of spinning\/wool preparation\/knitting or just cuddling with a staple can get us a long way. I like to see spinning as a state of mind or an inner process rather than a craft or something that demands a physical result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m listening to my Icelandic wool. Sometimes just digging your hands in raw fleece is enough to feel the closeness to the wool and to getting to know it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we do have times but don’t feel we produce enough yarn in that time. To me, time is a superpower. The more time I spend with wool the more I get to know it. And for me, preparing with hand tools and spinning on spindles give me more quality in the time I spend with the wool. The slowness allows me to spend more time with each fiber, getting to know the wool, how it behaves and how it wants to be spun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spinning where you are can of course also mean physically, in a certain space. Sometimes there just isn’t enough space to keep the tools you dream of. I would love to get hold of a walking wheel, which isn’t very likely since they are very rare here, but even if I would there would be no space for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m spinning where I am. By Lake Tornetr\u00e4sk in S\u00e1pmi in this case, with a suspended spindle and a pair of mini combs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other times I’m spinning away from home, perhaps in the woods or on the train. It’s not always possible to bring and use a lot of tools and I need to negotiate with myself to find a solution that allows me to spin where I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mind<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have had very hearty conversations over the years with students and supporters who talk about spinning as therapy more than anything else. A place to rest their minds, without expectations or prestige. A place where they can peel off the demands of the world around them and just be in the process. I imagine a lot of emotions are spun into the yarn from those sessions. Which, in itself could be quite therapeutic. A skein to some day look back at and remember where you were emotionally at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spinning for the soul.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spinning for me is quite meditative. Just as the fibers come from the fiber supply, into the twist and onto the shaft or bobbin, so do my thoughts. Lightly effortless and and without expectations. They come and I let them go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For meditative aspects of spinning, watch the videos A meditation<\/a> and A spinning meditation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Result<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether we spin for the process, the project, the mind or a quantitative goal we always get a result, even if we don’t always think so. The result can be a meter, a skein, a collection of samples, relaxed shoulders, a balanced mind. Or, sometimes we get a result, an outcome or reaction much later, a cumulative effect of the superpowers of spinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Relaxed shoulders and a balanced mind can be a result too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I get migraines I spin to get some space, a moment to focus my dull mind on something other than the nails-on-the-blackboard sensation in my head and all my senses. The sensations don’t go away, but I can relax some from them for a little while, catch my breath and get a sense of ease from the pain. Even if the pain comes back afterwards I’m convinced that the room to breathe I get from spinning through migraines does me good in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creativity comes from within because it is there and needs to come out, not because anyone else needs it to be in a certain way. Grow your spinning garden in the abundance that is available there and then. Be kind to yourself. Spin for you and spin where you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to sow my flax patch today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can find me in several social media:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n