First, admire the lovely flowers the little boy I babysit gave me for Valentine’s Day, and consider making him a crocheted blanket (not alpaca) since he took such a shine to the last crocheted blanket project I took along to work on. It might be a good idea to do that sometime soon. I mean, when he likes the blanket enough to ask if it’s for him, for his mom, for his little brother, or for his big brother, I can kind of see a broad hint in the there.

Second, relegate the blanket thoughts to the back of my mind and transfer my attention to this . . .
(I will wait for the ooohs and aaahs to die down.)

These are sections of the fleece that I carefully detached from the bag-full and laid on end in a nice green tray. Not only does it keep the fibers neat, it collects the dust, and doesn’t look half bad to boot. Hooray for being crafty and, at the same time, looking sharp.

Third, choose a small section of the locks and hang on for dear life while combing and fluffing up one end.

And I pay special attention to not let the comb pull the fiber from my hand. Then it gets messy. Then I repeat the process for the other end so the entire lock is beautiful and soft and any bits of hay have fallen out.

Fourth, having amassed a few handfuls or so of these fluffed-up locks, I lay them all on top of each other (ends still pointing the same way) and roll them up from side to side like a scroll. Actually, more like a cinnamon roll.

Then I pull it out into a gorgeous, fluffy, lighter-than-air mini-roving.

This, of course, goes onto the spinning wheel with eager anticipation.

I’ve gotten only a few spare moments here and there to work on it, but I’m very excited to see how this yarn turns out. I’m spinning it low-twist, so it’ll be a very soft yarn. Or smooshy, if you want the highly technical term.

On the flip side, I have been working on some of those batts I mentioned in the last post. I’ve got one almost completely spun, and it’s looking quite snazzy. Now before you go pointing out any little neps and slubs in the yarn let me say that I did intend for those to be there. It is all part of a grand, super-secret experiment. (Cue the dramatic music.)

In the midst off all this, I’m beginning to hear the call of the crochet hook again. I haven’t used them for an actual project for some time (and during that time I managed to accidently stab a tiny one into my heel) and I’m beginning to miss it. Miss crocheting, not stabbing my heel. That hurt.

I’ve got this crazy idea involving crochet hooks and un-spun silk. I have a silk hanky laying around. I just have to decide if that’s what I want to use it for. I think it would make a lovely, airy shawl or wrap. Probably rectangular, as silk makes hair static, and I wouldn’t want it right up by my neck.

However, to get to the point, one of his shorter writings features tips on writing letters and contains this little gem: “My second Rule is, don’t fill more than a page and a half with apologies for not having written sooner!” And I have taken this to heart. I think it safe to assume that you’re fed up with my apologies for not having blogged sooner, so I will dispense with them forthwith.

I’ve been keeping pretty busy lately with various fiber projects. One of which was a large undertaking.
Eight ounces of superwash BFL fiber to be handspun and dyed for a Maiden Yarn customer. Oh my goodness – I practically had to fight off my knitting sister to keep the spun yarn. Bluefaced Leicester is rapidly elbowing its soft and lustrous way to the top of the fiber heap, so to speak. It’s simply wonderful stuff.

And, of course, it’s just coincidental that I happen to have more Bluefaced Leicester on my other spinning wheel.

This is the “Violet, You’re Turning Violet!” roving I mentioned earlier. A blend of BFL and silk, dyed by OrangeJello. I’m really enjoying spinning this, especially as I’m spinning it on the wheel that was formerly in disgrace. I hauled the wheel back downstairs from its exile in the bonus room and decided to give it another chance. Mainly because my other two wheels were full of custom BFL, and (amazingly enough) some more BFL that was a gift from my aunt. Do I sense a theme here?

This will most likely end up in the neighborhood of a two-ply fingering weight. I’m rather enjoying the ability to just kick back and spin and not worry about getting the weight exactly right, or making sure there aren’t any weird little bumps and slubs in the fiber. This is fiber for me, and yarn for me, so I will spin in such a way that it promotes my fiber experience. In other words, I’ll spin it the way I choose and pick up the chips later.

Not that I have a project in mind for the finished yarn, though. I’ll have to wait and see for sure what gauge it winds up at and go from there. Oh, and yardage. That’s a bit of a factor. I made the mistake of browsing Ravelry’s patterns again and discovered an interesting fact about myself. Apparently I labor under the delusion that bigger is better. Do I like the little shrugs or lacey half-sweaters? No, of course not! I go for the giant knitted coats with cables and snowflakes, or the shawls the side of bedspreads. Not exactly conducive to the four-ounce braid of roving. And I doubt I’ll have a chance to spin that much yarn anytime this year.

I’m so flabbergasted that we’re almost into December already! And this is a good sort of flabbergasted. This is a “oooh, Christmas is coming” sort of sensation. I’ve already snagged some fun little Christmas-y things for my two stores. Hurrah for half off sales at Hobby Lobby.

I finished the silk laceweight for my sister.

And, while I was at it, I almost finished up the Willow fingering weight. (That’s due to be finished as soon as possible so I can dive into some lovely merino.)

And I’ve been simultaneously (well, not quite simultaneously) spinning this gorgeous thick and thin yarn. Again, it was on that super secret device, which was perfect for this kind of yarn. The thick bits wouldn’t fit through any of my wheel orifices, and the Walking Wheel keeps me at arms length from controlling the thick and thin variations.

And big news! The Phat Fiber “sneak peek” videos are now up, and you can see my samples in the first video. Hooray! I’m about the fourth one in on the first video. If you’d care to see it, you can find the Phat Fiber videos here.

This is the wheel version of spinning tutorials. You can find the drop spindle one here.

Let’s Go

If you learned on a drop spindle you’ll already have the basics of spinning down. All you’ll have to do is learn to operate the foot pedal while moving your hands.

However, if you decided to go for the big stuff first you’ll want a little more background.

The following videos are helpful for both complete beginners and drop spindlers. It’ll let you get a feel for how a wheel works.

The Videos

This is one from Paradise Fibers. It is the second half of a two-part series on setting up and using a Lendrum wheel. Lots of good things are covered, and you can get a feel for how a single drive band works.

Here’s one that really isn’t that information packed, but it’s a slightly different style of drafting the fibers. Take what you learned from the first video and look at this video with that experience. Things starting to look a bit familiar?

Now, these next two I discovered while stumbling about YouTube trying to find any of the good videos I learned from. Unfortunately the videos I learned from are not turning up, but this one and its sequel are very good. Again, this is a single band wheel. She touches on using home prepared fleece, and how to spin a “balanced” yarn. Also, she calls the piece that attaches the big fly wheel to the treadle “a footman.” I learned that the big posts that hold up the fly wheel are the footmen, but I could very well be wrong.

I can’t seem to find a video that demonstrates the different drafting methods, nor one that shows how things work on a double drive band. I may just have to take things into my own hands and make one!

In the meantime, here’s a text and image tutorial on the main drafting techniques.

To my mind, a drop spindle is the cheapest, easiest, and most versatile way of getting into spinning. There is something so cool about being able to make yarn with a piece of carved wood that hovers in midair. But, although I love them to pieces, drop spindles aren’t for everyone. They require the ability to raise your arms until your hands are on a level with your head and hold them out there for longish lengths of time. Sound too strenuous? I’ll cover wheel types in the next post.

But, for those of you who don’t mind a little productive exercise, a drop spindle provides the perfect opportunity to learn how to handle fiber and twist without worrying about bobbin tension, wheel treadling, and the price tag. (Did I mention I love drop spindles?)

Kinds of Drop Spindles

There are two basic kinds of drop spindles. Top whorl and bottom whorl. The “whorl” is that big lumpy thing on the stick (which is called a “shaft”). The whorl is what gives the drop spindle the momentum it needs to keep it spinning around for awhile. If you didn’t have the whorl you’d be there forever. It’d be similar to spinning with your bare fingers. Ho hum. (There is also a “middle” or “center” whorl variety, but I’ve never tried one, so I can’t help you there.)

I strongly recommend getting a drop spindle that can be used as a top and bottom whorl. Why? Physics, of course! Well, sort of. Top whorl spindles spin faster than bottom whorls. Something about having the weight on the top makes them fly. You want a faster spindle if you’re spinning a thin yarn. The speed puts in the large amount of twist thin yarns crave, with a minimum of effort and time lag on your part.

Now, if a top whorl is fast, what do you think a bottom whorl is? Slow. Actually, it’s slower, not “slow.” You still get pretty good momentum, but the bottom whorl is best suited for thicker yarns. Slower means it isn’t yanking the yarn out of your hands, and thicker means that you don’t have to move your fingers quickly. In short, a perfect beginner contraption.

Ways to Get Your Drop Spindle

As I mentioned earlier, this is a great tutorial for a quick and easy way to make your own drop spindle. There are also places all over that have them. Etsy has gorgeous ones; just do a search for “drop spindle” and you’ll see what I mean. Paradise Fibers has a good selection, as does the Woolery. The Bellwether is also very nice. Goldings are just plain gorgeous. Look around, do price comparisons, see what you think.

A Few Buying Tips

There are some things you want to watch for when you buy or make a spindle.

• Does it have a hook?

  A top whorl spindle should have a hook sticking out of the short section of shaft. Rather like this one. This hook gives you added stability while you’re spinning. And up until a little while ago I hadn’t realized it, but apparently some low whorl models have hooks on the long ends. You don’t have to have a hook on a low (a.k.a. bottom) whorl spindle, but you might like having that option.

• How much does it weigh?

  Weight is a factor. My two best spindles weigh one and three-fourths ounces each. They’re a great weight for your everyday yarns. When you get into the one ounce area you’re looking at very feathery light yarns, which means fast rotations, which means not easy. Two ounces, or maybe two and half and you’re getting pretty big and heavy. Not only will you have to spin thick yarns with lots of twist, but they can hurt more if they get away from you and land on your toe. I have a big one that is just over two ounces. I use it strictly for bulky weight yarns.

• How Big Is It?

  Size is also a factor. Although it’s not quite so much of a factor as weight. My smaller spindles are thirteen inches long with two-and-a-quarter inch diameter whorls. My mega one is fourteen inches long with a four-inch whorl. I don’t have any spiffy rules of thumb here. Just don’t get a spindle that looks completely out of whack. If it’s two inches long with a five inch whorl, something is screwy. And if it’s long for its whorl size you’ve gotten into the tahkli or navajo section. Run, unless you want to get drawn into the world of really cool, less common stuff.

• Is It balanced?

  And the last, most important thing, is balance. This is very hard to judge when ordering online or by mail. A balanced drop spindle will rotate without wobbling back and forth. I’m going to go out on a limb and hypothesize that most of your commercial drop spindles will have been checked for imbalance. If you want to go to Etsy, look to see if the buyer says they’ve checked for balance. A wobbly drop spindle is not fun. I know because I have one that occasionally acts up.

Whether you make or buy one, find one that inspires you. I was so excited about my first drop spindle that I didn’t care that it didn’t look like a Golding. It was homemade from unfinished wood, but my dad had made it for me and it was wonderful to me. It still holds a special place in my heart.

This is the drop spindle version of spinning tutorials. The wheel version will be coming soon.

Time To Begin

Alright, you’ve got your spindle, some sort of wool, and a whole lot of excitement. Now you need a piece of pre-made yarn (commercial will do) about two to two-and-a-half feet long. Plain yarn is best. Don’t go for the fancy boucle or eyelash. Just some scrap yarn you have laying around. Alright, got it in your hand? This is your “leader” yarn. It is what makes it possible to easily begin the act of spinning. It’s what you’ll be attaching your fiber to and dangling your spindle from. In short, it’s your friend.

If you happen to be feeling ultra crafty and coordinated today, (or if you simply can’t wait long enough to go find yarn) the first tutorial below shows how to begin without a leader yarn.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Here are my favorite YouTube tutorials for drop spindling.

• First.
  This is one of the first ones I watched. Mrs. Franquemont does a wonderful job demonstrating and explaining.
  She mentions “drafting” the fiber, which is gently pulling the fibers into a longer, thinner, looser strip. I plan to cover this in more detail in a later article. In the meantime, you can pick up a pretty good amount of information from these videos.
• Second.
  This one features spinning on a top whorl version, with roving that has been pre-drafted. She’s spinning quite a thick yarn, which I normally would choose to do on a bottom whorl, but she does it very well using the “park and draft” method. (Mentioned in the first video.)
• Third.
  This third is one that I actually discovered while I was re-watching those first two. It’s quite well put together and gives you some extra information. You may notice that while the lady in the second video rolled the spindle down the inside of her thigh, this lady rolls it down the outside. I much prefer (when I do the roll thing) to roll it down the outside. It’s more comfortable and I can get a good crackling speed up. Especially if I roll from the hip to the knee.
  She also talks about the “sheep’s gate.” That’s a spinner term for the area of fiber that is about to receive the twist from the already spun yarn. It’s vital that you don’t let twist get up past that little area and into the chunk of fiber you’re working from. If it gets up there you’ll have to stop and very carefully get the twist back out, or deal with a huge wad of fiber in the middle of your nice yarn.

Refining The Process

Once you’ve got the basic concept, go play with it. It’ll take some practice and time to teach your hands this new skill, but once your hands get it, yarn will come. One thing that might help you when you’re first starting out is sticking a little piece of masking tape (carefully!) on the whorl where you can see it, and mark it with an arrow pointing the direction you’ll be twisting the spindle. That lets you remember at a glance instead of accidentally spinning it the wrong way.

Spindles will drop; it’s just their nature. I would recommend spinning on a carpeted surface, and possibly wearing shoes. I didn’t bother with shoes, and I did get bonked a couple of times, but nothing serious happened.

Be Happy

You may have noticed that the ladies featured in these videos are very different, and have different styles. That’s fine! Play with things! Make them work for you. The goal of spinning is an enjoyable productivity. If you want to hold your fiber in the right or left hand, prefer park and draft to drafting on the fly, or hey, if you want to spin while hanging upside down, go for it! (I wonder how that would feel. . . )

Let the excitement work for you. You may hit little roadblocks, but think about what you’re learning and have fun.

You can do it.

Ultimately the goal of spinning is to create yarn. If you just like to watch things go round and round then go to the laundromat.

How do we create yarn? Well, let me give you the general concepts first, then later we’ll go into details about actually making it on wonderful things like drop spindles and spinning wheels.

You begin by spinning one long piece called a “single,” because it’s by itself. Once you’ve spun that you can either leave it and call it a single ply yarn, or you can spin another one and twist them together for extra strength, thickness, and manageability. This is called “plying.”

It seems pretty straightforward, right? Spin two things, then spin them together. But! There’s a little trick to make it work. When you spin something, your wheel or spindle turns in a certain direction. Clockwise or counterclockwise. (Or in the spinner lingo I’m still having trouble remembering, it’s “z” and “s” respectively.) Never switch directions while spinning a single or it will break.

The Basics of Plying

Now. Once you have your various singles spun (all twisted in the same direction) you spin them together with the twist going the opposite way. If the singles were clockwise, you ply them together counterclockwise. If you think this can’t possibly work, try plying a couple “s” twist singles together using an “s” twist. It’s nasty stuff. And, as a bow to tradition, singles are normally spun with a “z” twist. But use whatever works best for you.

So, does that make sense? Those are the fundamentals right there. Enjoy.

A More Controlled Yarn

Oh, you want to spin a specific weight of yarn? A specific texture? You want light and fluffy, not binder twine? Yes, that’s doable. You can take control of the finished product.

If you’re a beginner, start out spinning a two ply. It’s the easiest, and you can get your bearings quicker. The thicker or thinner you make the singles will effect the finished thickness of the yarn, as will the amount of singles if you decide to do a three, four, five, or however many ply yarn.

And the amount of twist you put into the singles will have a direct bearing on the finished feel of the yarn. When you ply something it actually loses some twist. A very tightly twisted single will loosen up a little, but not as much as one that’s been spun into a very soft single. There are math equations that will allow you to figure all this out ahead of time, but I prefer a much easier method.

It’s called “sampling.” (Perfect for those of us who taste food as we cook and only consult the recipe occasionally.) Take the fiber you want to use and spin a little bit of it. Maybe a single that’s three feet long. Reel it off the wheel or spindle — holding tight to the ends or some of that twist will escape! — and carefully let a longish part of it coil back on itself. Voila. There’s how it will look as a two ply. Or, if you want to sample for a three ply, fold the single up on itself until you have three strands running side by. Then give them a little finger twist in the correct direction and let them wind until they stop. There’s a three ply. If things still don’t look right, try using less twist or more, depending on what look you’re going for.

This is much more of an advanced technique. I didn’t begin sampling my yarns until I was well into at least my third month of spinning. If it looked like yarn it worked and I loved it.

For those of you who can’t stand those of us who taste food as we cook, the best place I’ve found the math explained is in a back issue of Spin Off magazine. (Fun publication. You might like a year or so of it for inspiration!) The article on twists per inch and wraps per inch can be found in the Winter 2007 issue. Page 11.

Spun Northern Lights

The funnest part was watching the color tone change from roving to single to finished yarn. This is what the actual fiber looked like.

Violets Roving

I spun the four ounces up, and they weren’t enough. The pattern called for 450 yards, and the four ounces had made only 296 yards. The quickest solution? Buy more roving! But wait, the shop my aunt had bought it from (in one-ounce packages) was out of the Violets color. My solution? Order online! And yet another hitch. I could only find it in eight-ounce bags. Thankfully, we figured out a way to make it work, and I ordered the eight ounces, eight ounces of another colorway, and eight ounces of some nice, heathered Corridale. I ended up ordering from Copper Moose, in Vermont, because they had the best price on the eight-ounce bags.

Roving and Yarn

And the other colorway from Northern Lights I got is a much darker mix of rich greens, browns, and golds. Very foresty. I’ve been spinning it for the past few days, on and off. (Yes, things have intruded into my spinning time. Namely work.) Here it is spun as a single.

Spun Single

The heathered Corridale that I got is for the express use of my aunt. I’m going to teach her how to spin on the drop spindle (I wonder if “drop spindle” can be used for the verb as well) and it’s nice stuff to learn with. A very smooth draft, but a good staple length. Staple refers to how long the individual hairs are, and therefore dictates how much you have to overlap the hairs. If the staple length is only an inch long you don’t have much wiggle room.

Mountain Meadow Roving