Spinning...

[lanie-lou.livejournal.com]

After heresyoftruth posted about her spinning adventures using her drop spindle I thought I would add my quick spinning and yarning tips so that they were available to whomever would want them. So here we go...
1. When buying roving ALWAYS ALWAYS card through it at least once, even though you might have purchased pre-carded roving it has still been packaged/sitting in a store/falling off shelves etc. so the fibers really need to be realigned, if they aren't you may wind up with some issues spinning later on. Basically the whole business will go much much faster if you take the time to card first.

2. If dying your own wool or other animal fibers though they may be completely washed etc. there may still be some left over oils, so do yourself a favor and soak first then dye. If you get oils floating on top it means you need to rewash your wool. Also, it is probably to your advantage to use some sort of naturally based dye, since they are cheaper to make (unless you are using kool-aid) and typically hold much better in raw wool after setting a bit.

3. Whence drop spindling weight and distance are your two best friends. If you can't quite get it at first try standing on a chair, it's the distance factor that helps. Other things to try....adding weight to the bottom of your spindle, increasing your drop by using stairs as your friend, scooting away from whereever you were and giving yourself a bit more distance.

4. When setting the twist of the yarn, set the twist, then ply then reset. If you need help plying keep in mind that all you are doing is spinning two lengths of yarn together, you are essentially doing the same thing as you did the first time you just have bits of yarn you are putting a twist in rather than just wool.

5. IF you are planning to knit/crochet with the new yarn you are making keep in mind that it will not behave like commercially produced yarn, if you are okay with that then yay, if not you may want to use your homemade yarn for another more decorative purpose. (learning to knit on homemade yarn while you are learning to spin as well is not fun from experience).