r/Handspinning

Started drop spindle spinning this year as a way to help recover following a hand surgery. Finally finished my first skein days before the fair.

I mean, it fits into both slots but I'm never sure which is right.

Making a hat with a rooster motif for our directors goodbye/thank you present, this is the first time I've done color work for anything other than practice and I'm so excited to use these 3 yarns for special details

I got this guy today for $10 USD (yes you read that right) and I'm trying to find information on where and when it was made. I can only assume 1821 would be a year of manufacture but I've yet to find records to confirm. It needs bands, a footman, and parts of a distaff, and there are some chips in the whorl that may or may not need to be fixed for it to work. They're very borderline IMO. He's screw tension and looks like some parts may have been replaced before. My other wheel (an A. Borduas CPW that I'm still in the process of fixing) has cast iron fittings and a cast iron treadle plate, but the only metal on this wheel is the rods through the flyer and the drive wheel. All the joints are done with woodwork joins. The drive wheel diameter is 20.5 inches.

I'm still working on the plying of my TdF singles. I had three full bobbins with one week each, 20g a day so 140g singles per bobbin. That was pushing it but at least they stayed within the "lines", they're advertised as holding 130g. And then I forgot that I had only one free bobbin for me plying 🤣 So this is 140g in 3ply and it shouldn't have been a gram more but it fits 😄

I love how the darker purple/white fiber is spinning up, but I'm wondering if the light pink/white will be too similar to ply. Maybe a light orange/yellow fiber would be a better match? Thoughts?

So I just got this bag of raw huacaya alpaca fiber. Haven't even opened it to look through it yet. I'm gonna want to skirt it first thing I assume, but I've never done that before. I live in a tiny apartment, but plan to go outside to the shared lawn space to skirt, so need something portable and that can compress or something. I've seen some things about chicken wire and sawhorses. I am not particularly confident in like.... my carpentry skills or anything.

So I suppose the question is, what would be the easiest way for me to diy a skirting table or something of the like that fits my needs here? Can I just get 2 sawhorses (preferably foldable) and wrap chicken wire over them?

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 was generously gifted this entire fleece by my partner’s friend who has a small hobby farm. He was unclear as to the type of sheep but he knew it was at least half Icelandic and maybe half Shetland or he mentioned Hebrides. Can anyone tell by look at these not fantastic pics if it looks entirely Icelandic? It seems to have the dual coat. Also does it look like it’s in relatively good shape to process besides it being dirty?

I am interested in buying a second wheel that would be more portable. I currently spin on a very old (1970s/1980s) Ashford Traditional. I’ve had it for years, and it’s the only wheel I’ve ever used. I recently replaced the flyer with the updated one with multiple whorls because my original one only had one size. I’ve been eyeing a Joy Wheel for a long time because I’d like something portable. I’ve lunged my wheel around to different locations but it’s awkward and doesn’t travel well. I’m curious to know what people think of the Joy Wheel (especially Joy 1 vs. Joy 2) and how they might compare to a traditional. I’m also interested in maybe getting one with a double treadle because mine is only a single. I’m debating buying used versus buying a new one. I mostly spin merino and merino mixes that are sports weight, but I’m working on transitioning to spinning finer (closer to lace weight). Thoughts? I’ve also seen that the Kiwi is also portable, but I kind of have my heart set on a Joy Wheel.

Continuing on last years World of Wool advent box, I decided to blend day 4 (No Comment) using hand carders rather than keep the highly variegated colours. I'm so glad I did. Loving this peachy apricoty result! (link to the reddit post the last image comes from - I forgot to take one myself before I started spinning so thanks u/protoveridical). I do really like the lemony yellow in the initial blend, and wish it popped out more. But there was too much of the red and I just knew I'd lose the yellow in the marling anyway had I kept it as-is.

Matches the weight of day 1 quite well, but is a little on the thin side. Day 2 is still thicker (I skipped 3 because I do not think it's going to work in a sweater project, it's too fragile and will just pill!). I need to keep an eye on my gauge for future spins if I want any kind of consistency 😆

We'll see how day 5 goes!

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

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

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!