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By Leah Varrell
Live and Let Learn, Leah's family's blog

I learned to spin on a drop spindle around Thanksgiving and received an Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel for Christmas. The first time I spun on a spinning wheel was on Christmas morning. That first time was kind of frustrating, but I tried it a couple more times and about a week after Christmas, I got it - it just hit me - and then I loved spinning. My mom is learning with me and we go to spinning groups together to try to learn. My dad is learning how to spin now too. With mom's help, I will be writing articles for Spindlicity as I learn how to spin better and better. For each article, I'm going to visit a different farm and learn about a different animal. I will spin and knit some fiber from that kind of animal and write about what I learn.

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This month I met some of the merino sheep at Adams Family Farm in Vermont. Adams Farm has about 80 merino sheep and the most popular yarn that they sell is merino. Merino sheep stay together in a herd and are outside most of the time, even in the winter. They don't keep themselves clean, but they can be kept cleaner with a coat and good care. The sheep were friendly but they didn't stick around as much when I didn't have anything for them to eat. Adams Farm has a border collie named Bess, who helps to keep the herd in order and going in the right direction. Adams Farm sells their own merino wool yarn, and other kinds too, and they even have dyeing workshops to make beautiful colors.

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Most of the merino sheep at Adams Farm are white, but the merino wool that we brought home to spin is a pretty chocolate brown color. It's so soft that I didn't want to take the puff of wool away from my cheek and start spinning it, but I started on the drop spindle. I had trouble spinning it with the drop spindle, so mom helped out. I went back to it a few days later and tried it again. It was a lot easier and a lot more fun! This time I pulled more gently, so the fibers didn't pull apart before twisting into the single. This is also the first time that I was able to let the spindle keep spinning while I drafted the fibers, instead of parking it between my knees.

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In between times with the drop spindle, I tried the merino with the spinning wheel. Because I knew a picture would be in this magazine, I paid extra close attention to my drafting. I was having trouble spinning it at first because it kept breaking, but we think this is because thinner yarn needs more twist and I wasn't getting enough twist in to make my yarn strong. But eventually I got the hang of it and this is the first time I was able to make singles this thin. Yippee!

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I plied two strands of singles to make my yarn. The first time I tried to ply it, it didn't work because I forgot to spin backwards. I did it again with the wheel going backwards. That takes some practice, as all you beginners out there know. I was concentrating so much on getting the wheel to go backwards that I didn't pay enough attention to the yarn, so knitting with my yarn is still kind of like knitting with two separate strands. My yarn has fluffy spots where I didn't quite catch the fibers as much as in other areas, but the knitted swatch feels so soft!

Adams Farm is a great place to visit to learn about fiber animals and farm life. They have lots of activities, including weekly spinning bees and knitting circles. Also, their fudge is delicious and it feels so good to visit there!

Leah is a 7-1/2-year-old fiber fanatic who spins and plays in Connecticut. Pictures of her most recent projects can be seen at Live and Let Learn, Leah's family's blog.