Let's talk fiber:
There's plenty to choose from out in cyber space, fiber fests & local farms if you live near any. But as a beginner, tempting as they are for cloud softness, you want to keep away from exotic fibers like alpaca, angora, lama, silk, cotton, etc. or merino sheep wool. These fibers are very fine and short & difficult to slide past each other when learning to "draft" your fibers during spinning. The best length to learn on is about 2 1/2" - 3 1/2". Choose roving or fleece from corriedale, romney or blue faced leisester or wool blends with them in it. They may be a bit coarser but much easier to handle for learning. You can graduate to the higher end fibers later when you have good spinning control.
Getting Started:
If you are using a bottom whorl spindle:
TO BEGIN:
Tie a 15-20” length of any yarn (leader) to the bottom of the shaft
above the whorl and rotate spindle clockwise wrapping leader around shaft with
the last turn or two under the hook.
Leader should extend a few inches above the shaft for joining it to the
spinning fibers. Make
an opening in the
leader about 1” from the end and insert about a 1/4” wide piece of the new wool
(see below). Pinch join with left hand and give spindle a clockwise twist from
the top of the shaft with your right hand.
(leader loop)
Bring the right hand up to the join and allow the
twist to enter by slowly releasing pressure with your left hand. The left hand
continues to hold unspun wool and moves along, drawing the fibers apart with
right hand (hands should be about 3-4” apart) to desired thickness (drafting).
The spindle will slow down so with your right hand give it another spin. Then
reach up and pull down more fibers from your left hand. The fibers being
pulled down form a triangle (draft
zone). Pull on the spun yarn below this triangle to draw down (see fig.
below). Continue
Draft zone
doing this so you have made a few
draws downward. If you need to join more
fiber, tease out the ends and overlap and hold them together between left thumb
and forefinger, spin spindle and let twist join them and continue spinning
yarn.
When spindle hits the floor, separate your arms, maintaining tension on the spun yarn and wrap this length around your left palm. When you reach the spindle undo yarn from hook and wind yarn on shaft into a cone shape just under the whorl. Bring about 15” of yarn back over the top of the whorl and under the hook and repeat spinning.
If you are using a top whorl spindle tie the leader to the shaft just under the whorl and bring leader over the top of the whorl and loop around hook. Leader should extend a few inches above the shaft for joining it to the spinning fibers. Make an opening in the leader about 1” from the end and insert about a 1/4” wide piece of the new wool. Continue as the bottom whorl spindle. With a top whorl, while holding the fiber & leader in your left hand, you can also take the shaft in you right hand and roll it along the top of your thigh a few times and place the shaft between your knees. Then pull fibers from the draft zone while sliding your right hand up as the yarn twists. This is not traditional but helps those who are having a difficult time spinning the spindle.
Wind yarn around the shaft until it is full or difficult to spin due to the yarn weight. Whew, you've done a lot of work!
Your first yarns will probably be thick & thin (designer Yarn!) until you learn to pull even amounts of the fibers into the twist. Drop spindle spinning has been done for thousands of years, even before the invention of the spinning wheel. If you wanted to wear clothes, you had to spin the yarn on a drop spindle & knit! I'm sure you'll do fine. I encourage people to learn so this wonderful craft can be passed on.
Next time I'll discuss removing the yarn and preparing it to hold the twist.
Ciao for now!
Arlyne ~http://www.thewooleywhale.com/
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