new to spinning
By addysmum
@addysmum (1225)
Canada
September 18, 2007 11:34am CST
Hi, I am new to spinning. I bought my first top-whorl drop spindle on saturday and have spun up one 50g ball so far. It was lumpy and the singles had different thicknesses everywhere. I know for my first try it wasn't that bad so I started my next project right away, so far it is going much better. I would love any tips and ideas that anyone has to help me along. I have to say it is the most fun I have had while sitting and watching t.v. before bed in a long time and I am looking forward to many hours of spinning and many hours of knitting my hand spun yarn.
3 responses
@addysmum (1225)
• Canada
1 Aug 08
Oh my, I am loving it. I have 4 lbs of wool that I have dyed myself with food coloring and tea that need to be spun up. I am just waiting for my custom spindles to arrive so I can spin it up. I have my original spindle but I really want to try this new ones I had made for me and sure as heck they will so up the day I decide I can't wait anymore and start on it. I also have a pound of Corriedale wool in a light grey that I am also waiting to spin up with my new spindles. I found this woodworker that makes wonderful spindles and spinning tools. I have a niddy-noddy from him and now the 2 spindles that are coming. The next thing I want to do is spin on a wheel.
@sca1066 (32)
• United States
20 Sep 07
Hi! Using a drop spindle is fun. I first took a class for it, but the teacher sucked. I mean, here we are, never having done this before and she just went to fast! Needless to say I didn't do much spindling after that. Then I took a spinning wheel class and the first thing we had to do ( besides sping the wheel to get used to making it go the direction we wanted) was to use a drop spindle. This teacher told us to draft some yarn, sping, stop, draft some more, spin, stop, wrap thread on spindle and begin again. This helped us learn how to draft our wool for the spinning wheel to get consistancy. Like you, my first stuff was thin, thick, novelty yarn! Now I can use the drop spindle and the spinning wheel and have a consistant single. (most of the time anyway)
1 person likes this
@addysmum (1225)
• Canada
20 Sep 07
I am loving using the spindle. My husband says he thinks its a lot of work for something he can buy for 4 dollars at Micheals. I told him hand made yarn is way more the 4 dollars and the stuff at Micheals while it is nice is not the same as hand spun yarn. It is nice to have something other then knitting to do at night, I only knit cables (I find plain knit purl boring) so having something I can do without counting and thinking is nice on those days that the kids sap all my energy. I am most likely going to move onto a wheel but for now I want to enjoy the spindle, that and I just bought a new harp so spending a lot of money on a wheel right now is not going to sit well with the husband.
@ElicBxn (63664)
• United States
18 Sep 07
That is sooooo cool! I've considered spinning off & on thru the years, but I just can't seem to find anyone that will teach me. I did try knitting, but I just find that boring. But even if I find I don't like spinning, I could at least felt the wool!
1 person likes this
@addysmum (1225)
• Canada
18 Sep 07
Have you tried knitting cables. I personally hate just plain knit purl knitting and I don't really like to do a lot of color changes but I love cable kitting. I was told it is very hard to do but I find it very simple maybe it is my analytical mind that makes it easier for me. I haven't tried felting yet but I am sure I will in the future I love trying new crafts. Spinning is a lot of fun, I am really enjoying it.
