Tips for Spinning While Pregnant

Is pregnancy putting a damper on your treadles per minute?  First trimester exhaustion and swollen ankles killing your spin game?  Okay, so really this is just a thinly veiled attempt to expose my secret for why I’ve been so inconsistent in the last two months.  We’ll soon be welcoming a mini Luthvarian/reiner72 into the world.  During the last two months, I’ve learned a great deal about trying to be a fiber artist while pregnant.

1. 1. 1. 1. Exhaustion is a game changer – I went from spinning half a pound of fiber a week, writing daily blog posts, streaming twice per week, running my shop, working full time at the library, writing articles for fiber magazines to…. Calling in to work 1-2 days per week, spinning less than an ounce per week, forgetting to blog, streaming for half the usual  time, sometimes missing streams, and napping for hours on end.  The first trimester comes with a kind of pervasive bone-tired exhaustion that stops everything in its tracks.  If you’re a heavy producer, like I am, this can be incredibly frustrated.  Be patient with yourself.  Not everything has to get done now, now, now.
         2. Nausea makes treadling impossible – Morning sickness… or all day sickness… is not conducive to the motion of treadling.  I’ve found that I either have to time my spinning between bouts of nausea or… I have to use a spindle.  I’ve also had to keep my spinning sessions short to give me plenty of time to get food and avoid additional nausea and a sore tummy.
         3. I can be a fiber artist and a parent – I don’t have to choose! I’ve always been afraid that all my passions would slip to the side when I became a parent, but if this is a preview to future years, I’m happy to say I am certain I can find balance!
         4. The start of a baby bump makes a great surface for a support spindle bowl – you guys know I had to try.

Over the next several months, I expect my productivity to be squirrely.  Please bare with me as I go through this enormous life change.  I will be as present as I can be and I will continue to share updates and communicate with you all.  Here’s hoping for a future fiber artist!