Not long ago I wrote a post about something I’d learned from my Grandmother Hunter (whom I don’t recall ever meeting). Today, my sister (one of; “She has altogether too many sisters”) and I were talking online about a number of things—like sisters do once they get going… I started thinking about how life lessons are learned, well, throughout one’s life. They all come together—refusing to stay in separate file folders of the mind—to make us who we are.

After that platitudinous remark, I wish to write up an addendum to the lesson I learned from my Grandmother. This one is from my dad, Willard Wall.

The back of the photo says, “Wall, Willard 1st squad 2nd Platoon Co 7 OCS #1 class 6 Home town, Lyman, Wyoming” in my dad’s handwriting.

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Three and a half years ago, when I started pin loom weaving and subsequently learned to spin yarn, I didn’t know that one day I would arrive at exactly what I hoped to achieve.

These three handspun yarns all have one ply in common; the second ply is different for each.

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Yesterday I spun some yarn on a drop spindle. It’s my usual habit to divide the wool in half lengthwise (with the hope that each half will spin out equal in length which makes plying easier) and begin spinning.

Top left of photo: you can see the second half of the wool in a braid. The first half is partly on the spindle, partly spread under it.

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Really, there seems to be no end of the jokes you can make about dyeing yarn and fiber.

There are MANY things to love about dyeing your own yarn and fiber. It’s creative, it’s surprising, and it produces resluts unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else. Every yarn and fiber seems to behave a little bit differently. The skein on the right in the photo below is called “Licorice Twist” yarn. One ply dyes darker than the other.

So close to dry that I can’t wait any longer.

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