what a great story, Judith.  Thank you for sharing.  I like to think of you as one of the giants on  whose shoulders I stand.

I ditto that.  I have never had a spinning teacher.  Not by my side, anyway.  I HAVE had you and many others at my side thru the pages of Spin Off.  My first experience of spinning was over 20 years ago with my sister who at the time thought she knew how to spin.  She came visiting, and I went with her to purchase her first wheel.  We proceeded to spend an ENTIRE day trying to make some yarn.  

Looking back I can only guess that we MUST have had the tension set horribly horribly tight.  I became intensely sore in nearly all my muscles.  Especially my abdomen.  I was breathing hard and sweating from the effort. I can remember feeling just flabbergasted at the notion that spinning was such a very aerobic sport.  Whodathunkit? I could hardly move the next few days.   I had had NO idea!  

I can remember having to lean in and really REALLY shove my foot down HARD just to get it to spin, only to have the wool in my hands almost immediately dissappear with a solid jerk that upset my whole balance.  It is a miracle that I didn't give it up entirely after that day.  

A few years later, I ordered an Ashford Traveler and  taught myself, with the magazine at my side.  Last fall I graduated to my new wheel, a Kromski Minstrel, which I simply adore.  I'm having unblelievable amounts of fun experimenting with all types of fiber, and just made my first cabled yarn with help from spin off.  You can see it posted on my profile page.  I'm currently knitting a fishwife triangular shawl that was featured a year or so ago in spin off.  It is of brownish BFL, and I love that I have learned to spin.  Thank you your shoulders over the years.  You have taught me MUCH!

Midori

So nice to read this after just taking Judith's class ("To Spin a Fine Thread") at Maryland Sheep & Wool.  What a delightful teacher!  My only regret is that the class was far too short!  Here's hoping my guild can convince her to give an extended workshop sometime. :-)

16+ years ago I stood over the shoulder of my then very young daughter as she took weaving classes from a local weaver who only taught children.  I purchased these classes for my every-so-talented artistic daughter in the hopes that she would love weaving and add yet another creative talent to her long list of skills.  I was so enthralled with the classes that I bought a loom from a local weaver and took classes on my own.  It did not take long for me to discover, that the options of good weaving material available locally were limited at best.  Thus began my challenge to learn to spin so that I could spin my own yarns for weaving.  I was told that to learn to spin you must begin with a drop spindle.  Once accomplished, you could easily move to a REAL spinning wheel.  I still have the first "rope" that I made from that drop spindle!  Together my daughter and I taught ourselves to spin on a spindle from directions provided with our first spindles.  I taught myself to spin with a wheel from books.  I did find a guild locally eventually, and those ladies are still friends to this day.

Fortunately, I live in the Pacific Northwest and I have had to PLEASURE of taking many, many classes from Judith.  She is a GODDESS!  She has taught me more about spinning that I can tell you.  But more importantly, she has taught me fiber and all the wonderful sources - and everything that goes with it.  She is the ultimate story teller.  If you get the chance, no matter how far or wide you need to travel - take a class from Judith.  You will NEVER forget the experience.