Learning to Spin

[Jenn_M]

I just bought a drop spindle and some roving so I can try my hand at spinning. I'm so excited:.

Any tips, tricks, advice??

I did watch a few videos on YouTube. I can't wait for it to get here!

[flapjack]

IWK have a leaflet on hand spinning which is how I learnt: also, there's the website joyofhandspinning.com which has a lot of beautiful videos.

Have fun!

[bandyr]

This is something I've just gotten really interested in as well. Not at all sure where to go for good, basic starting tips!


SAHM to 2 nurslings

[Jenn_M]

Thanks flapjack!

bandyr- I bought my spindle from here. And here are some videos on YouTube.



My parents raise llamas so I'm hoping to have the ultimate handmade project by the end of summer.

[fallriverfox]

How is it going?

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I found it a good idea to tie a piece of yarn to your spindle and practice "spinning" it before you start on roving. Just practice getting the spindle to spin. Practice easing the yarn through your fingers and "drafting". It really helped me to get a feel for how it worked before I started on lose fiber that can easily separate and lump up and so on.

The other thing is practice, practice and more practice. It's better to spin a little bit every day than to spend one day spinning for hours and frustrating yourself.

And don't expect your first few hanks of yarn to be something you want to make something out of.

[Jenn_M]

Okay... well. I'm sort of getting it.

My biggest problems are keeping it even. I'll get these fat parts and then really skinny, kinked up parts.

I'm not letting enough twist out of those skinny parts I don't think because still stays curled up even after setting the twist.

[cygknit]

Originally Posted by Jenn_M

Okay... well. I'm sort of getting it.

My biggest problems are keeping it even. I'll get these fat parts and then really skinny, kinked up parts.

I'm not letting enough twist out of those skinny parts I don't think because still stays curled up even after setting the twist.

That is totally normal! You're doing great!

The fat parts don't hold the twist like the skinny ones do. You may want to focus practice on drafting. The consistency will allow the twist to distribute up the yarn evenly. One great way to practice is to park and draft. Essentially: spin the spindle, stick it between your knees when it has built up twist, then focus on drafting a bit at a time. Spinning can be like driving a stick shift, you're doing 16 things at once and you need to practice each separately. HTH!