Thursday 6 May 2010

Learning to spin on a drop spindle

Yesterday, I tried to spin some yarn with my drop-spindle. I bought it some months ago, but got frustrated and never really used it.

But, that was before yesterday. Me and my boyfriend went shopping and we stopped by Indigo, a big library store. And, to my very own knitter/sewer/crafter delight, I ran into the fullest shelves of knitting/sewing/crafting books! I could have past the entire afternoon there, looking at books, flipping pages and dreaming about the things I could make. And then I found this book:
Sorry... Amazon picture

Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont shows with great pictures and detailled "how-to" how to start to spin yarn with your spindle. What I thought was super sweet is when she says "If you have a few corkscrews and pigtails, don't panic. " Made me feel better!

She explains a very good technique for beginners : Park and Draft. I won't go into detailling this technique because I am a very beginner myself and don't want to make you do mistakes with my so-so explanation!
But! after a few tests, and some great explanations for a twitter friend, I kinda of got it, and here is the result! One 32.5 yards, mini-skein of handspun yarn!



It has been wasched and dried, but you can still see aaaalll the corkscrews and the piggitails... hum! I think I am on the right path, and I do know at least what I did wrong!

So, on this note, I'm going to go spin...

8 comments:

spinndiva said...

Way to go!!!! I think it looks fabulous! later on you may want the little spirals and things for art yarn and it will be so hard to get them back ! :D So enjoy them while you can!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely awesome! There's going to be no stopping you now. Watch out spinning world! We've got a new member! :D

OneOfTheHive (Heidi) said...

Oh. My. GAWD! I LOVE it! Great job!! It makes me want to run out and get a spindle and some squishy merino roving.

I love the corkscrews... it reminds me of Malabrigo Gruesa. Is the book super helpful? I've watched a ton of video tutorials on Youtube and I played with some of my boyfriend's sister's shorn wool at her sheep shearing party a few weeks ago. It's going to be my next addiction I am sure of it.

Unknown said...

Thanks guys! And you're right, now all I want to do is spinning.. :-D

@OneOfTheHive : Yes, the book is super helpful! I really like how the author makes you understand that, even after a few tries, it is NOT going to look like the yarn you dreamed of spinning! I think she is really supportive!

Loulek said...

Oh ça va!!! Tu te débrouilles vachement bien! J'en ai vu de beaucoup moins jolis. Tu vas faire quoi avec ta laine ?

Ariane said...

@Loulek : Merci! Je vais probablement la garder en souvenir... elle est toute petite et si mignonne!

Porcini said...

Oh a friend showed me how to spin once and I loved it! But I was quite bad so I lost heart with it... maybe I'll try that book and be inspired!

x

tricobsession said...

super beau, figure toi que je viens de recevoir de la laine à filer ... que j'avais commandée il y a 6 mois ... je crois que je vais acheter le bouquin dont tu parles, parce que je ne sais pas par quoi commencer ! !

à bientôt

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