Introduction to Spinning, Part 1

[chanceler25]

how the hell did i get here from glowstringing videos

[MyDogHasATrollFace]

This is defenitly how to teach a rat to spin.NOT!

[ccrcountry]

When i finish the string is very kinky. How can i do for correct that?

[Zswordwielder]

I WATCHED THE ENTIRE VIDEO!! WHY!!!! I WAS LOOKING FOR PENCIL SPINNING!!! THIS IS NOT WAT I WANTED TO SEE!!! yet i watched it.....

[yvonne007bgu]

thank you for this video! I have an interest in spinning using a drop spindel (spinnign wheels are so expensive!) but i was really intimidated when I started reading about it; seeing it be done and having it explained so well made me feel more like this is something I could actually do!

[gooch18241]

wtf was that?

[secretsoiree]

You have done an excellent tutorial on this! Thank you for sharing! (-:

[PrOcraStNAtoR]

not pen spinning :(

[TheCarla2112]

ooohhhh...... i thought dis waz a shufffle vid

[RecorderStar]

oh, now i get it. this vid is HELPFUL!!!!!!!!!1 can u do this with yarn scraps?

[jakryk]

I had tried drop slindling before. I thought I was doing something wrong because my yarn kept kinking back on itself. This is the first demonstration I've seen that points out that it is normal for the yarn to kink back on itself! Thank you so much for that alone. I also like how simply and straight-forward your demonstration is.

[MegaJoemen]

O.O wow thats just so cool... xD i have a dog that sheds like crazy. so i brushed hem out so i can use his hair T.T i had to improvise a bit becuse its short and its from dog O.o uh.. i had to use a pencil then took some starberst candy mold it in to that cone shape. poped in the cooler after pushing a carve thick tooth pick in to the center of both the starberst and the eraser end of the pencil just anuff was sticking for that hook thing. XD much to my surprise it WORKED!! LOL

[HORSELOVE59]

This is a GREAT video! I've wanted to spin my own yarn for some time but I haven't yet. I love to knit and make things with yarn and I think this would be a great way to sell my own stuff.

Do you have any suggestions for where I can buy the wool and spindle to get started? I found a spindle online buy I didn't know if there were certain brands or materials that are better suited for beginners.

Thanks so much!!

[Moms90]

Abby, How do you keep the spindle twirling while drafting and having the twist ride up the yarn. I can never get my spindle to continue to twirl long enough to set up the fibre so that it travels up into it.  Quite frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

Mildred

[beelee2011]

Thank you for an informative demo it all makes sense now

[peekabeaux]

Great video, thanks for the info. I just made a drop spindle today and didn't have the faintest idea to use it. You explain it perfectly.

[blackbeltwezal]

Thank you for this video!! I've just heard about spinning and had no idea what it was or how to even do it. You made it extremely to understand! Your video was straight forward it answered question before i even thought to ask of them!! This has to be by far one of the best tutorial videos i have ever seen. thank you!

[78pennies]

Thank you very much for your video. I tried to learn how to use a drop spindle 10 yrs ago and was unable to make it work. I am recently giving it another go and your video is very helpful.

[drzeesh]

best video...really helpful

[Raingirl365]

This is the first info anywhere that's made drop spindling actually seem achievable. Loved the start where you go slow and demystify drafting. The article on your blog site with the old pic of you and your cave man drop spindle gave me courage to pick up the one that ambushed me on EBay at 3 am one morning.

I still can't see what's going on with the yarn wrapping on the fingers. I'd love to see a slowed down close-up just of the yarn wind-up. I end up with a tangled mess.

[glorystitcher]

You have made this so clear. Thanks so much! I have had a dear friend make a spindle over a year ago and tried it, but failed. Now I will start again trying. Thanks so much again.

[Gilbs2211]

That's skill there!

[Ritercrazy]

Thanks for teaching this. You did so well. I understood tons more. Thanks!

[dhinson45]

I also have rabbits but mainly interested in using fur ( wool) from our 2 Samoyed dogs. I know in Russia they make garments from them. Any suggestions??

Loved your video!!

[brosue4]

Thank you so much for your videos! Thank you for taking the time to fully explain the process and things like staple length that so many other experts take for granted in these beginner videos. Thank you for not trying to impress us with how fast you can go, but taking the time to let us see the details. Thank you for not making beginners feel stupid for our lack of expertise and spinning jargon. Thank you for showing spinning for the beautiful art it is!

[cantstopknitting]

I am so glad these (Intro 1&2) videos are here! I am lucky in that *this* was the first video I saw on spinning, when I was learning, It helped me be quite good for a beginner.

[ADHUK]

Excellent explanation!

I enjoyed watching - thanks!

[arttulip100561]

what a great teacher! she explains everything very clearly step by step. cool.

[CougarClan]

Great dear... best I've seen!!! THNX

[maybudha]

much much clearer instruction than the first one pop up on my search. thanks.

[knitnchick]

Thanks for the great tutorial! This video has really gotten me started spinning. I highly recommend!

[fuzzyslippers87]

AUGH! You make it look so easy! I'm trying to learn how to spin but my "yarn" ends up looking so ugly and uneven! :(

[popgzwezl]

Fabulous explanation!

[sdf1171]

Thank you for a well done instructional video. Your instructions have given me a good idea of what is involved in this technique. I have a feeling that it won't be as easy as it looks to begin with.

[AdmiralJedi]

Excellent video, thank you so much for taking the time to make it!

[teanagedramaqueen]

nice video. one question: i have one of those kids hair braiders, u know, the one that has three hooks and has batteries, it spins each one and then spins them together to make a twist type of braid in your hair. well, i was wondering if you think one of those would work instead of the draft hook. i would like to try to make yarn out of my old dog's extra fur, so when she "passes" i'll have something to remember her by. please get back to me soon. not sure when she'll go, hope not soon. thanx.

[lovelyethereal]

Hi,

Thanks for your videos. I have a satin angora bunny and we gave her a haircut for the heatwave. Now we have a lot of satin angora hair and need to spin it. We have a top whorl spindle and as soon as I have the courage, I'll try to spinit. I have visions of beautiful shawls, scarves and hats. But watching your how to spin part one can you suggest any modification fitting for satin angora?

[afranquemont]

If you're interested in learning to spin your angora, I would still probably start with wool to get the idea first. Angora can be slippery and take getting used to, and you'll need to get comfortable with how spinning works for it to work out well for you. In the long run, you also may find you prefer to blend the fiber with wool by carding or combing, in order to get more mileage for your fiber and avoid it being too warm in a finished garment.

[HConstantine]

@afranquemont There was a large angora production facility at Auschwitz. They used the fur as insulation in aviator's jackets.

[crazypersonlovenacho]

thanks so much!

[thebachars]

WooHoo this video is an awesome find! Thanks for putting it together! Can't wait to try it!

[jenacorn]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting.

[js40k]

excellent! I'm keen to get started

[yarnmetermaker]

Thanks for the video. One of the best tutorials I've seen, simple and informative. (Also liked the comments from the survivalist!

[shigella]

O, JOY! Thank you for posting this. I've been reading a tiny pamphlet and trying to figure this out for myself with a similar spindle but there is nothing like a live demonstration. I can't thank you enough. Hooray!

[tlbrammer]

Thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial. I am very new to spinning my own yarn. This will definitely come in handy!

[hilmill15]

This is a great video. Have you ever done this using rabbit fur?

[afranquemont]

Angora rabbit hair is definitely a spinnable fiber, but in general I wouldn't recommend it for most brand-new spinners as it's a little slippery to handle. You can pluck it from your own rabbits if you have them, or buy it ready to spin or blended with other fibers, from a variety of sources.

[MsJJovel]

amazing! people pay 60$ for this ! your wanderful thank you so much !

[goddessthoughts]

Wonderful tutorial!

Very easy to understand :)

[flmason]

Hi Abby, nicely done. :-)

Suppose I wanted to spin a bowstring in the wild. Looks like I could carve a drop spindle pretty easy from local wood.

But how well do shorter fibers, like say cotton or some natural "puffs" out there slice together?

For example, suppose I tried to spin using cotton balls as a worst case, does it still work the same?

[afranquemont]

That is an excellent question. Shorter fibers can be trickier to spin, but people have been doing it since long before building permanent settlements. However, it's more common to use a different kind of drafting technique with shorter fibers -- whereas the technique shown here keeps twist out of the fibers that are being drafted, then eases twist in, short fibers are easier to spin if you let twist in to start to catch as you draft. This can be trickier to learn [more]

[afranquemont]

For a bowstring, spinning one is a tougher job, because it needs to be resilient, not stretchy, and stand up to twanging. Plant fibers fall into two categories: seed hair (like cotton and other fluffs) and bast fibers, which are the long fibrous cores of certain stalky plants (like flax, hemp, and nettle). Bast fibers can be feet or yards long and are not stretchy, so they'd be good for bowstring, but they're time-consuming to process. [more]

[afranquemont]

Bast fibers can take a month or so to get ready to spin and their length can make them hard to manage. You have to rot away the outside wood, break the waste away and get the good long fibers out, with repeated soaking, breaking, and other steps. Seed hair can be spun right from the seed, but it's not as strong as longer fibers and would wear quickly. Animal fibers are usually stretchy. This is why sinew is a traditional choice, though it also needs curing time.

[afranquemont]

A more approachable yarn weapon would be a sling, which can be made from anything and requires learning to do moderately complex braiding or twining. The sling can also be used as a spear-thrower, though I've never done that. Snares would be another hunting solution to consider. Lastly, spinning a bowstring would best be done using compound cable plying structures, and those might take some advance study to do well on the fly, though it's not impossible at all.

[flmason]

Hi Abby, Yes, I tinkered with it a little over the weekend with just some fibers sitting around the house. Looks like twisting the yarn until it doubles over and then twisting 3 of those together starts to add lots of strength. Then maybe adding some whipping over the wear areas.

No doubt flax looks like a great way to go if you have same growing nearby and have the time, LOL! Might starve before you got done though, LOL!

[maenad1138]

@flmason, most bowstrings are made out of gut. No fiber would stand up to the tension of the bow or the constant friction of arrows and fingers.

[maenad1138]

@flmason, most bowstrings are made out of gut. No fiber would stand up to the tension of the bow or the constant friction of arrows and fingers.

(adding that modern fibers that include plastic can but I'm talking about home-made bows, here)

[afranquemont]

For those who have notchless spindles, try looking at the winter 2008 KnittySpin for one good solution. You can also try wrapping the yarn a couple of times around the hook -- that may do the trick for you. Some of this is covered in Part 2.

[KattraBlake]

My spindles dose not have a notch....

[afranquemont]

See reply below.

[wyltk62]

I'm a very novice spinner and after watching your video I went straight from producing extra chunky yarns to fingering weight.  Wonky and uneven, sure lol, but still looking A LOT better. I now understand WHY I'm supposed to be pinching here and pulling there, and "drafting" is no longer a completely alien concept. Thank you so much!!

[skraprchik]

Thanks so much for this new video. It goes step by step and helps so much if you're learning to spin with no teacher. I actually learned on a borrowed wheel first, but can't afford my own for some time and spindle spinning will have to do. Plus, I really like it but was having trouble learning that "walk back" technique.

[knittingdragonflies]

Wow, this is an excellent video and directions are clear!! I wish I had seen this when I started spinning!!

Thanks

[tmfrazer]

Excellent! I will send all my newbie spindling students this video!  Can't wait for the book!

[jeanius80]

awesome abby.. but there is no boooooobs! ;)

[afranquemont]

ROFL! You're right, these videos are just no good. I don't know what I was thinking.

[jeanius80]

oh, that maybe the spinning was important? ;)

You know, drafting was the "AHA!" moment for me. I was almost ready to give up when I finally figured that out (I am 100% self taught. I wish your videos were here 18 months ago!)

Thanks for sharing such great videos!

[brownsheep32]

You have awesome, clear, descriptive videos. I have been searching for good spinning videos. Thank You soooooo much. Please feel free to make many more, I am such a fan : )

[balmagowry]

These are really splendid; just what the spinning n00b (and the n00b's teacher!) needs, totally a service to the spinning community. I do have one question, though: why not address the *direction* of spin? I've noticed that's one of the first questions most new spinners ask. I know there's no law, but I think clockwise is typical enough to serve as a reassuring starting point. I usually teach people that way (though I also explain that there are exceptions that can be discussed later on).

[afranquemont]

That's an excellent question. What's most important is that you keep spinning in the same direction, because otherwise, your yarn won't hold together and you'll encounter lots of problems. If you have a specific direction you find easier, then go that way -- there's nothing wrong with that. Most contemporary yarn, and much yarn around the world through history, is spun to the right and plied to the left, but one may find a preference for the opposite for various reasons.

[afranquemont]

Clockwise, or Z spin, or spun to the right, all mean that your spindle is spinning in a clockwise direction. S spin, counter-clockwise, or spun to the left, happens when your spindle is rotating in a counter-clockwise direction.

[peninahleah]

Wow, I agree. If this is a preview of your book... I wish this video existed a few years ago when I started spinning b/c I did not really grok drafting or staple length. I still consider myself a newbie spinner and learned some spindling techniques which have already made my life easier (the loop/walking under tension to wind onto the shaft, you *don't* want to know how i was doing it but it did stretch my arms!)

[yukonviolet]

This video is awesome! The instructions are very clear.

[littlemousling]

If this is even a tiny hint of what we can expect from your upcoming book, I am totally sold! I've been spinning long enough to know this stuff, but your phrasing and clarity are remarkable, and kept me hooked. I watched the whole thing, and now I just have to decide which spindle I want to play with first!