Hi, great tutorial. It covered everything. I looked at my spindle..low whirl and it has a 80gm wooden disk, quite heavy. But it is my first. I also have only ever spun suspended. My spindle ‘rod’ has a small nail through the top in place of your hook. To keep the yarn whilst spinning. The bottom of the rod is also tapered slightly so it jams into the wooden disc, but can be removed when full. Then you just attach a new empty rod and continue. I found I was running out of rods as I was experimenting with different colours so I started making my own out of…..chopsticks! I slipped it onto the disc, tiny rubber band underneath to keep it on the disc. Then for the pin..I just used a match stick and rubber banded it to the top of the chopstick. Like a small cross. I now have an endless supply of rods, an endless array of colours to later splice. It has become almost an addiction. I also card and dye my own wool. Starting with food colouring and lately using felt pens. And all this as a beginner. Golly. I jumped in the deep end didn’t I. Only the last month have I bought rovings from a wool store. And I’ve been doing it straight from the animal for about 6 years. I learnt so much from you, especially the length of the fibre. And to think this all started when a lady across the road from me was placing the wool from her alpaca in the garden as a weed mat. Yes, I started with alpaca. Mixed with a little merino but deep end dive for me. I later made a pair of mittens out of the neighbours alpaca and gave them to her as a gift….”these mittens were walking around a few months ago.” She was tickled pink. Thank you again for sharing all of your knowledge. It was a joy to see.👍 Oh yes, I have also spun brown horse hair mixed in with alpaca and merino. Dyed it yellow and I called it tiger wool.🤣
I am glad the video was helpful. The first fiber a spinner uses can be anything, provided tool and technique are a good match. Your heavy suspended spindle would not have been my recommendation for alpaca. However your persistence and the prep made it work. Yes you dove down the rabbit hole right away. Enjoy your projects.
Hi Ms. Cynthia Where do you get your yarn? And also, I very interested in learning how to spin but where can I find fiber to spin that I can start to spin with ? Every where I’ve looked up is out of fiber or it’s already spun. Thank You for sharing! New Subscriber to your channel. Please make more videos.
I spin and ply my own yarn with my spindles. While this video is about bottom whorl spindle spinning, I recommend beginners start with top whorl. The logistics of handling it are easier. On my website there is a How to section that includes a tutorial on getting started. I made a Beginner Friendly part of my webstore, all the spindles with the right spinning properties for a beginner. I put a private Zoom lesson in there too. If you get the spindle and lesson from me I will send enough fiber to start. Email for a list of fiber suppliers. I have the privilege of working with many good sources.
Thank you for watching. Please comment with any questions. The spindle I was using is my Branch size Bottom Whorl Spindle signed number 408 with a Tuilp Poplar whorl on a Maple shaft. It weighs 1.6 oz. 45g. The Stump is Quilted Maple with the support bowl on one side and spindle display stand on the other. Tools available from my webstore. Fiber was Polworth sheep's wool dyed by Unplanned Peacock Studio.
On spindles without a hook the half hitch takes the place of the hook. You would also need to start with a yarn leader to make the first half hitch. I make all my spindles with a hook to avoid the hassle.
That was beautiful thank you. I would love to purchase one of your spindles in the future. I look forward to it.
Glad you enjoyed it. I keep bottom whorl spindles in stock on my website. Link in the description.
Thank you you just taught me something new. Thank you very much.❤
Awesome, thanks so much!
Your welcome.
Thank yo I for the demonstration. It really helps me understand better ways to hold my spindles. Now to practice. . .
Your welcome. Glad to be of help. Regular practice does wonders for our spinning.
Very nice tutorial
Thank you!
Thank you for showing me the park and draw method. I hope it will improve my spinning.
Your welcome.
Hi, great tutorial. It covered everything. I looked at my spindle..low whirl and it has a 80gm wooden disk, quite heavy. But it is my first. I also have only ever spun suspended. My spindle ‘rod’ has a small nail through the top in place of your hook. To keep the yarn whilst spinning. The bottom of the rod is also tapered slightly so it jams into the wooden disc, but can be removed when full. Then you just attach a new empty rod and continue. I found I was running out of rods as I was experimenting with different colours so I started making my own out of…..chopsticks! I slipped it onto the disc, tiny rubber band underneath to keep it on the disc. Then for the pin..I just used a match stick and rubber banded it to the top of the chopstick. Like a small cross. I now have an endless supply of rods, an endless array of colours to later splice. It has become almost an addiction. I also card and dye my own wool. Starting with food colouring and lately using felt pens. And all this as a beginner. Golly. I jumped in the deep end didn’t I. Only the last month have I bought rovings from a wool store. And I’ve been doing it straight from the animal for about 6 years. I learnt so much from you, especially the length of the fibre. And to think this all started when a lady across the road from me was placing the wool from her alpaca in the garden as a weed mat. Yes, I started with alpaca. Mixed with a little merino but deep end dive for me. I later made a pair of mittens out of the neighbours alpaca and gave them to her as a gift….”these mittens were walking around a few months ago.” She was tickled pink. Thank you again for sharing all of your knowledge. It was a joy to see.👍 Oh yes, I have also spun brown horse hair mixed in with alpaca and merino. Dyed it yellow and I called it tiger wool.🤣
I am glad the video was helpful. The first fiber a spinner uses can be anything, provided tool and technique are a good match. Your heavy suspended spindle would not have been my recommendation for alpaca. However your persistence and the prep made it work.
Yes you dove down the rabbit hole right away. Enjoy your projects.
Thank you!
Your welcome!
Hi Ms. Cynthia
Where do you get your yarn? And also, I very interested in learning how to spin but where can I find fiber to spin that I can start to spin with ? Every where I’ve looked up is out of fiber or it’s already spun. Thank You for sharing! New Subscriber to your channel. Please make more videos.
I spin and ply my own yarn with my spindles.
While this video is about bottom whorl spindle spinning, I recommend beginners start with top whorl. The logistics of handling it are easier. On my website there is a How to section that includes a tutorial on getting started. I made a Beginner Friendly part of my webstore, all the spindles with the right spinning properties for a beginner. I put a private Zoom lesson in there too. If you get the spindle and lesson from me I will send enough fiber to start.
Email for a list of fiber suppliers. I have the privilege of working with many good sources.
Thank you for watching. Please comment with any questions.
The spindle I was using is my Branch size Bottom Whorl Spindle signed number 408 with a Tuilp Poplar whorl on a Maple shaft. It weighs 1.6 oz. 45g. The Stump is Quilted Maple with the support bowl on one side and spindle display stand on the other. Tools available from my webstore.
Fiber was Polworth sheep's wool dyed by Unplanned Peacock Studio.
How do you spin if you need to use a half hitch?
On spindles without a hook the half hitch takes the place of the hook. You would also need to start with a yarn leader to make the first half hitch.
I make all my spindles with a hook to avoid the hassle.
Cool
Thanks! Do you spin with a spindle?
Is there a link to your store?
Sorry the link should be
cynthiawoodspinner.com/product-category/spinning/support/