Persistent Knitter

Tons of fiber, tons of spinning for Sheep to Shawl and a bit of extraneous spinning with the other fleeces in my stash.  I have three drop spindles: two top whorls and one bottom whorl. I wasn’t sure how to make the yarn stay when I was wrapping it on the bottom whorl one.  I got a quickie lesson this weekend from my friend Rebecca, who is an amazing spinner.  One of the things she taught me was how to make an Andean Plying Bracelet.  See instructions here.  It’s really amazing!  (My question is how big of a bracelet can I make before the technique loses it’s finesse?)  I decided to repeat the technique again that evening so I would remember how.  I did another short length of very light grey wool, and then I plied the silk that has been sitting idle.

My results:

Top to bottom: Silk, grey fleece attempt #2, grey fleece attempt #1.

The grey fleece was a ‘freebie’ fleece believe it or not. I’ve been using my mini forsythe combs (purchased from Bountiful at last year’s Wool Market)  to create a sliver.  Each of the tiny skeins was created from about a yard of sliver.  The first one I did my spinning was lumpy and not very consistent. I was getting the feel of the drop spindle and had a few problems with making it behave.  The second skein I really focused on keeping the drafting area the size, and making the yarn very consistent.  I can’t tell you how beautiful this little skein is. I’m so pleased with the results.

My silk spinning is so-so. I can’t say I’m totally pleased with it. It’s hard to spin nicely. I think I’ll try it on the wheel to see if that works better for me. 

Wheel vs Drop Spindle

I learned how to spin in a class, and we started with a drop spindle the first class. I was able to do it - but didn’t feel really comfortable with it. The drop spindles we were using were huge and very heavy.
The word "drop" came into play a LOT.  Then we moved onto using wheels and I thought I’d never go back to a drop spindle again. I got to try out a few different styles of wheels; and that helped me decide which one I would buy.  Since then my favorite LYS started carrying Magpie maggie spindles.  These are the most beautiful spindles and they SPIN and spin and spin and spin.  I bought one thinking I’d give the drop spindle another try. 

When using a drop spindle, you can take your time - it’s harder to over twist your yarn compared with wheel spinning.  You can make very small samples easily (as shown above) using a drop spindle.   (I’m planning on using grey fleece #2 as my sample for when I go to the wheel. ) The other big thing the drop spindle has for it is portability. You can put a bit of fiber and your drop spindle in your purse and off you go! 

A wheel will obviously allow you to spin more yarn in a shorter amount of time.  But is quantity better than quality? I guess it depends on what your quality is like on the wheel! :)   When I asked Rebecca why I could spin using a wheel, but really stunk at using a drop spindle; she reminded me that it’s a whole different set of skills and movements. She’s right! The drafting is the same, but starting the spindle spinning, winding all use your hands, whereas on the wheel your feet are doing the treadling, and winding on is a matter of "feeding" the wheel.  If you knit, imagine what it felt like the first time you tried to knit, or maybe the first time you tried continental style knitting vs english style knitting.  You know what you want the end result to look like, you know how you can get there if you were doing it the other way, but you stubbornly persist in learning a new way? Why - because it’s FUN. 

That’s probably why I have dabbled in so many different fiber related activities. I love to learn new things. I get a kick out of the Aha moment when I finally understand why something works, or I start being able to do the new task without thinking about it.  Just today I was reading the latest copy of Spin Off magazine with an article about making baskets.  "Hmm, Maybe someday I’ll take a class in basket weaving" (But not underwater) :)