Some Spinning
I haven’t had much time for felting with the puppy and lambs. I did manage a little spinning.
I got some nice tweed roving from World Of Wool. I think they will make nice hats and accessories. Then I wanted something to spin so I thought I would try these.
This is the pink. The dark flecks are viscose. It drafts nicely and makes a really nice yarn.
And the grey. Over-dying them might be interesting too. The viscose won’t take the wool dye.
They were both nice so I thought I would try combining them. I pulled off a thin strip of each colour and drafted them together. This is the single. I am winding it off the spindle into a centre pull ball so I can ply one end against the other.
and this was the result.
I think I like the two spun together best.
I am a slow spinner. I do it because I enjoy it but I don’t want a lot of anything. I am not making sweaters or even socks. I will use them for some decoration on some felt, probably.
This is is what I am currently spinning, some yellow for the glitzy line at World of wool. It has some super bright triloble nylon in it so it has lots of sparkle.
Yellow, isn’t a colour I have a lot of in my stash but I like how this is turning out. Surprisingly the multi-coloured sparkle tames the yellow. Do you spin? have you thought of it. It’s fun, portable and you can make some great yarns for decorating your felt.
21 thoughts on “Some Spinning”
Love the combination Ann! The pink and grey combine beautifully. The yellow is sublime. I am inspired to try my hand at spinning. Where to start?
Thank you Helene. where to start, get or make a spindle. I make and sell kits locally. The spindle I put in is made of a piece of dowel, a toy wooden wheel and a cup hook. A video on park and draft to get you started. This method breaks down the process into steps so you are not trying to do everything at once. One thing people do is try to hold to much wool. strip the roving/top down into a thin strip of wool so hardly any drafting is needed. the yarn you make at the beginning will be lumpy and bumpy but its all usable in felting or just in a ball on the shelf to show how your progressing. Remember you can’t spin perfect lace yarn the first week. Use the forum to ask questions or ask for help. We have a lightly used spinning board.
Wonderful spinning Ann! Love the pink best. Did you hand wind those balls? If so, how did you get them so neat?
Thanks Lyn,Yes they are hand wound. It’s one of those slow and methodical things if you want it to look nice, sort of meditative. You can do it fast an messy and it works just fine. Sort of like the pretty turtles on Turkish spindles.
Impressively neat. Our balls of wool look like they’ve been wound by a mischievous chimpanzee.
I do like the pink and grey yarns, and also the mixed pink and grey. Quite often, in fact most times, I think that fibres loose a lot of their beauty when they are spun up, but these still look good.
You asked about spinning – I used to spin many moons ago before I fell in love with felt; in fact so long ago that I really can’t remember how. I’m told it’s like riding a bike, you never really forget; the problem is I can’t ride a bike either. When I was a child we lived beside the Great North Road (what used to be the A1 from London to Scotland) and it was much too dangerous for me to have a bike, so I never learned.
I still have my wheel though and one day (when I’m older and greyer) I’ll start again.
Yes, sometimes it is very hard to see how it will spin up. I have found it’s the wool striped down the length are yarns that seem to lose their look the most. I am sure spinning would come back. I use a drop spindle and just make small amounts of things. I like that I can take and do it anywhere. I don’t think I can go much greyer. I don’t have much left that isn’t grey.
I am older, starting to gray! Am just getting started with a wheel and drop spindle, appreciate the inspiration and advice here
I have been grey or going grey for most of my life. I started as a child.
Your yarn is great. I have a drop spindle. I will have to try again on learning to use it.
Thanks Ruth It takes some practice but its fun and you can make small bits of really cool yarn for very little money.
Ann thanks a million for the advice and tips. I will give it a go. Start small 💖
That’s great its is lots of fun
Ann, I loved how your yarn turned out particularly the pink & grey.
I lost my upright iron & wood antique spinning wheel years ago, then 2 years ago bought one for 10 Euros in Europe. Fortunately we had the car with us! I also have a drop spindle.
Have I, or can I, use any of them?……..sadly no….creating yarn will have to wait until I’m a bit more grey or have more time 🤪
I am so sitting you down in front of my two wheels when you visit us next time 😀
Thank you Antje, I hope you take Leonor up on her offer to teach you how to spin.
Love to see a fellow spinner having fun! That pink and grey yarn looks really nice. I can’t spindle spin to save my life, but I am endeavouring to learn. Wheels all the way for me!
Thanks Leonor, it is fun and crating the yarn you want or just something crazy is fun. I want to learn how to do beehives on a spindle. A friend does coreless core spinning but I am not sure I can do that on a spindle.
i love drop spindles there so portable, i did take the small wheels and the kick spindle to the hospital when Glenn was admitted but for regular every day trips around the city (back when i did do trips around the city every day) i took the drop spindle and some wool. i always had a bag ready to go. there are 3 drop spindles by the computer and more in a basket by the door.
the gray and pink turned out lovely! have you tried plying some of the pink with some of the grey just to see the difference from spinning it together? all the the resulting yarns should work very well together as embellishments.
I have several on the go usually and a bunch in may basket. I may give plying form 2 balls a try. It’s been a while since I did that……after my sparkly yellow.
The yarns turned out great. I could never get the hang of the drop spindle.