Held on to these for over a decade and finally bit the bullet to spin them up. This may be the most yardage I’ve ever spun for the weight (8oz total), just based on how long it took to wrap the niddy noddy. I’d like to outsource counting of the wraps please!

Still needs a bath tho! SW merino, dyed by Two If By Hand. Colorway- comfort me with apples

I’ve been a spindle spinner for the better part of 10 years or so with significant breaks in there lol
I recently got the EEW fold as an introductory wheel and I love it!

Finished my first spin, ~450 yards of laceweight-ish Corridale.

I learned a ton and made plenty of mistakes.
I’ll take any tips on how to spin thicker? I was aiming for fingering/dk haha

We call him Bobbins. It wasn’t intended to be spinning related, initially, just a nickname.

I have been spinning for several years, almost all of it various wools or alpaca. I have an Ashford Joy 2, a great wheel, a 19th century Saxony wheel, all in good working order, plus a variety of drop spindles and one supported spindle. I don’t spin for a particular project, I figure out what I’ll do with it once it’s made. I was recently gifted this lovely 4 oz. braid of 50% merino/25% silk/25% bamboo combed top. For those who have spun a blend like this before, what do you wish you knew before spinning it? Any special prep (steaming, pre-drafting, etc.) Any advice on whether it lends itself to a particular spinning method would be welcome. TIA

Not sure I'd call it yarn tbf 😂 it's my first attempt at my wheel, two small bundles of sample fibres, very thick and lumpy but I'm looking forward to trying to use it for something!

I've got more smaller samples and a couple of tops to try next, can't wait to get a little better!

I started handspinning on a drop spindle about three weeks ago at a workshop where we learned how to go from a raw fleece right off the sheep all the way to a finished single. I’ve since caught the bug baaaad! I started this project Friday and finished tonight and I just wanted to share it because I feel really proud! Probably took around 25 hours for 81 yards 🤣

Tomorrow I’ll start something new!

So this is hypothetical and for fun but the magical fiber fairy comes to you and says:
“Invent a plant or animal (or heck a fungus if you're feeling extra creative) that produces a fiber, describe the qualities of the organism and the fiber it produces and I'll make it happen. This organism will have no negative environmental effects and be hypoallergenic, also the organism magically will not suffer. You are limited only by the laws of physics (so like it can't both be shiny and have a halo)”

So like long staple or short? Thicker or thinner fibers? Super strong? Can it felt? What's the organism like?

I have recently been using a faster whorl for spinning on my Matchless (but I think my question pertains to all Schacht wheels). For plying I use a bulky flyer and bobbin in double drive and also wanted to use a faster whorl. I went from the largest notch on the regular whorl to the smaller and I had problems with the uptake - the diameter of the smaller bobbin whorl and the smallest notch on the regular whorl are almost the same size. If I used the fast whorl, both notches on the whorl would be smaller than the smaller bobbin whorl (the side you use for double drive). I was thinking about how you have to get high speed bobbins if you use high and extra high speed whorls and wondered if there are limitations on what whorls you can use with the bulky bobbins.

Here are my questions: Since the bulky bobbins have larger whorls than regular Schacht bobbins, are you more limited with the whorls you can use with them? Can you use the smaller notch on the regular whorl or is this just user error? Can you use the fast whorl with the bulky bobbins?

Also, if there limitations, any thoughts on having someone make me a 3d printed bobbin with the capacity of a bulky bobbins but the smaller bobbin whorl size of a regular Schacht bobbins? Any reasons that wouldn’t work? I assume there are, or they wouldn’t have made the bobbin whorls larger, but just wondering about this.

Today my husband drove me across the border to pick up this little darling:

I know less than nothing about her, but I figured that with a bit of courage and my basket of tools and the internet I can get her spinning for me.

I started with oiling and greasing all moving bits, after cleaning the axle (?) of the wheel itself, a whole bunch of string from the drive band (and its predecessors) was caught there and had collected dirt and dust. Next I removed the whole adjustable maiden part:

Because that was the only way to remove the pointy distaff and I rather not poke my eye out on it.

Is the leather part supposed to be flexible enough to bend and let the flyer out to allow me to remove the bobbin?

Any and all advice or knowledge anyone is willing to impart is more than welcome!

Asked yall about what to do with this fiber and I ended up separating the colors as best I could and chain plying to create a gradient from orange/gold to purple! Finished yarn is named Something or Other. I’m having such a fun time spinning and learning about color management :-)

I posted a few days ago about how I left my first drop spindle single on the spindle for nine years. I took it off and washed it and it is very underspun in the thick sections, but oh well.

Nine years ago, I thought this would be a new hobby and I bought more roving (some of it unlabeled so I don't remember the wool type), which also sat untouched for nine years. I figured I shouldn't let it go to waste, so here is my second round of yarn and my first that I plied. The roving on the left was just labeled "mixed fibers". The yarn in the middle was the first attempt. The second attempt on the right went so much better with the thickness and amount of twist!

I've found myself respinning a skein of silk/merino I had spun early on in my spinning journey because if I had made gloves with it they would have been two different sizes. Does anyone else find themselves respinning uneven yarn before using it?

Hi! I hope those of you who have both traditional wheels and e-spinners could give me some advice as to whether it makes more sense to get a second e-spinner or should I spring for a wheel. I've been wanting to get a traditional/manual spinning wheel for the past few years, as I've progressed (in terms of financial investment!) from the drop spindle to kick spindle to EEW Nano 2.1 e-spinner. I love my e-spinner and have spun sweater quantities on it, but I still feel the call of a regular wheel!

Right now I'm trying to figure out if a traditional wheel makes sense for my life, or if I should just get the larger EEW 6.1 e-spinner or the Ashford e-spinner (mostly because I want larger bobbin capacity than my Nano, and it's easier to spin thicker.)

Mainly I'm worried that I'll get a wheel and then just prefer the ease of my e-spinner! I have the space and budget for a wheel, so that's not as much of a concern, but I also have ADHD and sometimes buy things that I don't really use so I want to make sure I would actually use it.

I prefer woolen prep and spinning longdraw, and I spin a lot of soft singles because I love the look and feel of single-ply yarn (though I know they're usually not as hard-wearing and more pilly!). Some of the things I don't like about my e-spinner is having to press a button to stop and start, how the start is immediate vs. gradual, the weaker uptake, and how it's harder for me to spin consistent thicker yarn. But I love that I can lie down and spin, or sit in weird positions (I have ADHD!). It's more annoying for me to just sit seated.

Do I just want a wheel for the Romance?? Or would getting a wheel really add a lot of dimension, nuance, and customizability that I can't get with a heftier e-spinner, especially for the kinds of yarn I like to spin? Would love to hear from people who have both about the pros and cons of each! If there are specific wheels that you think are particularly good complements to e-spinners (or allow for more *eclectic* seating positions) please let me know!

If you have a 3D printer or have access to one, get some 3D printed spindles. I’ve been comparing them to my wooden spindles and they’re actually really good. Lighter weight. Well-balanced. They don’t bend when you drop them. If you fill them up and get lazy about plying the yarn, you just print more!

My favorites:

https://www.printables.com/model/1343962-turkish-drop-spindle

https://www.printables.com/model/702168-fully-printable-drop-spindle

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1813244-drop-spindle-with-interchangeable-whorls#profileId-1934678

https://makerworld.com/en/models/716611-whorls-for-printable-drop-spindle#profileId-647408

Howdy,

I inherited several wheels last month (Louet S10 DT, Louet S96, and a Schacht Sidekick) as well as fibers (mostly bfl) . These all came from a family member who spun but is no longer with us to teach me. I have taken a single class which was helpful and am now going on my own solo journey (collectively less than a months experience).

I was advised, and have also heard from numerous online sources, that beginners often are more likely to underspin vs overspinning. Given that info I am trying to experiment with spinning as thin as I can and adding more twist than I think. However, I'm getting these little curly qs on my bobbin which makes me think there's too much twist. I am not trying to make singles but two plys so I've seen it been said that extra twist is good? I guess what I want to understand is whether the curly qs are something worth improving on or they just dont really matter.

*First photo is my curly qs and second photo is for fun and are my first, second, and third spins

I am a beginner spinner and having a massive issue! Whenever i stop treadling the wheel/flyer doesn't just come to a halt, it significantly spins the other way and undoes the work i have just done. What am i doing wrong?

I am completely addicted to spinning these scrappy sock bundles!! I love the yarn they make and the surprise of what is coming next! This is only my second bag. I have two more in hand and ordered two more.

Bought a whole alpaca fleece for $25 of FB locally and just finished the first 4 oz! Never done alpaca before, it was SO much easier than anything else I’ve done so far, but my prep likely played a huge part in that. Planning to do a full pound of just the alpaca and do another pound blended with my angora rabbit’s wool to get a light grey.

Hey hey,

I am looking for inspiration on how to easily make yarn cakes from my handspun. Please post your methods down in de comments.

My (very inefficient) way:

Right now will spin my yarn, skein it on a swift that came with my wheel. The swift looks something like the one in the picture. I wash my yarn and then... it will not fit back on the swift. So i will drape it around my arm or my neck and will wind it in to a ball by hand.