SPINNING FIBER WITH GRACE

[Halalsilks]

Hi MsSerabella. My daughter is SARAH and I call her SARAH Bella ! Thank you for asking!. A single ply is ONE strand of yarn. So say you have some yarn and you unwind it and see 4 threads, that is a 4 ply yarn. But many folks do not like to ply yarn because it takes twice the time to make a 2 ply yarn and 3 times to make a 3 ply etc. If you make ONE strand the girth or thickness of the yarn you want, that is a single ply yarn, it can be as thin as for lace or thick as heavy bulky! blessings,Grace

[MsSerabella]

how do you spin a single ply? once you've spun it do you just spin it counter clockwise? i'm confused.

[Halalsilks]

@MsSerabella See my note to you above. You only spin in one direction, whichever way you wish. There are reasons to turn your wheel in one direction vs the other, it has to do with the way you knit. I am not that fussy and I did win a number of prizes for my yarns. I would suggest if you are new to spinning to first view my video on how to predraft and then do that , you will know the thickness or grist of your yarn, how it will turn out by how much you draw it apart, spin, wash and dry, done!

[andypanda758]

HI First of all im new at this,and im up to spinning .The leader is on and threaded ,put in the twist attach my fleece spin looks great but the fleece won draw in .Im lost now.any help you give would be appreceated.Thanks nelson

[Halalsilks]

@andypanda758 I am so happy you are learning to spin! Ok, it sounds like your tension needs to be adjusted. What happens is the tension area on your bobbin is too loose, very gently start tightening it a smidge, then try again. You will get to the place where it either pulls in too fast or not at all, if you can find that spot between the two you are golden. Also you should have a WOOL Leader yarn, cut about 20 " and tie it to the bobbin shaft, then pass through orifice, attach to your wool.

[dtilton2]

Can you please tell me who made your spinning wheel?

[Halalsilks]

@dtilton2 I am so sorry this is late, I am quite ill. I have an Original Ashford Traditional wheel, this is about 40 years old now. I did get it fixed with parts from someone on Etsy. It is made in NEW ZEALAND. I can spin almost anything on it, even laceweight. I love it. If you get this, remember to get the Bulky flyer kit so you can do very thick yarns and also I use that to ply, it holds a lot of yarn. There are a other kits, like the lace kit, a quill,etc. Keep me posted, Bless you!

[Hector49er]

? Cool Video. I just started Hand spinning myself :D. It's really fun. I' using a | Sheepard's crook shaped piece of coathanger at the moment.... hahaha. | Very basic yet enjoyable. I don't have any natural fiber, so I'm taking appart | an old comercial synthetic 4-ply yarn and carding the fibers with a pair of

5inch combs ( the ones you can get for free from a barber). It works, hahaha, i cut the yarns to simulate differing fiber lengths also, 1.5-2in 2.5-3in, 5 in.

[Hector49er]

I plann on getting a pair of ACTUAL wool cards, a REAL fleece, a drop spindle and 1 yard niddy-noddy. It's going to be a productive winter!

? | | |

[Halalsilks]

@Hector49er I bet you are having some issue getting that acrylic to stick to itself, but it sounds like it would be an amazing art yarn. You are so patient to spin this way. I hear that if you spin the wire on your thigh it will go faster. Try putting a heavy wide bead on your wire and it will spin longer, Bless you, grace

[Hector49er]

@Halalsilks Thank you for the suggestion. Since then I have acquired an entire animal clip off of a Llama from New York State and a few pounds of seconds from an alpaca farm in California. (I might be off on my locations, it has been a while) I also bought a Birch top-whorl drop spindle and a cute little one yard niddynoddy. The natural fibre is a LOT easier to work with. I haven't done much with it lately, I've been too busy, but I did try some felting with the llama fibre, it was really cool.

[defarge007]

Hi Grace: I've been wondering for over a year what my "default" (innate) spinning draw is - no descriptions that connect. This video tells me what I've been doing --a modified backwards long draw.

Also I ignored/forgot the inchworm the teacher taught us learned on a one-treadle HitchHiker using the MBLD and almost threw it thru the TV!

So this is a modified woolen rather than mod. worsted technique -- right?

Thank you for this video -- it solved a mystery!

[poppygirl4]

i think your video is a real inspiration, it motivated me to grasp the technique. thankyou

[Zauberzunge07]

Thank you!

[aelievense]

Wow! SO BADLY want to learn how to spin! I never thought to look up Youtube videos on it. How does one get started learning how to spin? Is there a book everyone gets started with or is one supposed to take a class? I LOVE to knit and I just love the idea of making something from nothing. Knitting a sweater from just a single strand of yarn is amazing. I think spinning the yarn from scratch would be amazing to the tenth power! Enjoyed your video, and thanks for sharing!

[defarge007]

Oh, I see that you wrote this one year ago, so you may be spinning now.  Check out the YarnBarn, Kansas. They sell a Victorian Video DVD on beginning spinning that is great. Also Interweave Press (Spin-Off) has come out with a 2 disk video. Happy Spinning.

[jfobug]

@aelievense I hope you have learned to spin. but if not I would recommend getting a spinning kit. It usually contains a simple drop spindle and some fiber. There should be a spinning guild or group in your area.

[56TonyT]

Could someone give me some details on how the flyer works??? I'm having trouble trying to wrap my mind around how the spool knows when to take up new yarn and how does it spread out on the bobbon with out bunching up in one spot? I'd LOVE to make my own spinning wheel but this part iiludes me to be sure!

[Halalsilks]

First tie a "leader" piece of wool yarn to the bobbin tightly. Place ply around the hooks then pull through orifice hole. My tension to Ashford Traditional Wheel is broken, that is why I am using rubber bands and a string around the bobbin and hook that onto screw eye hooks on the maiden.You manually stop the wheel and move the ply to the next hook to prevent bunching,start at the farthest hook and move toward you hook by hook. Look online for WOOLEE WINDER which does this great! thanks, Grace

[56TonyT]

Thank you Grace; This partly helps explain what I'm looking to learn. I suppose I should have stated my query more specifically. I am trying to build the flyer assembly from scratch and I have no Idea how it is constructed. I have a very,very limited income and/or resources. I want and, need to build my own spinning wheel. I need detail on how is the spool braked and released. I pray I make better since.

Thank you

Tony

[weaver613moongypsy]

What a nice video! Well, looks like I'm spinning just fine. Thanks for posting it.

[Halalsilks]

I would enjoy seeing your fiber! Thanks for viewing my video,

smiles,

grace