Look! A photo!
My first handspun. Probably to be the only handspun (at least for a really long time).
I used the spindle and fiber that I won in the London-Wul Fibre Arts contest last July. It’s a big mix of fibers (wool/angora/silk/mohair and sparkle).
I don’t think it turned out too badly for a first-time. I definitely think if I were to ever take up spinning, it’d be with a wheel. It was too hard to get into a “groove” with the spindle. As soon as I got going, the spindle would either stop spinning, or hit the floor. Maybe spindle-spinners need to be very tall? :)
I’ll probably knit with it eventually. I didn’t measure it to see how much there was, but it’s not a whole lot. But there is enough to use as a trim on something or mixed with some other yarn.
What do I do with this now? I don’t think I want to ply it, because then it probably won’t be long enough to do anything at all with. At least as a single I can use it along with some other yarn for a hat or something.
But I don’t even know how to get it off the spindle.
Remember way back when I won the contest on the London-Wul Fibre Arts Blog? I finally got around to taking photos of my prizes.
The Whole Package.
Lantern Moon needle case and a set of London-Wul needles (I wish I knew what kind of wood these are, I really like how they feel!).
Yarn: The blue is 50% angora/50% alpaca, and the green is 50% angora/50% merino. SO SOFT.
Lantern Moon silk bag, bag of hand-dyed wool/angora/silk/mohair and sparkle fiber, and a drop spindle.
So, I’ve always said I’d probably never learn to spin (no real desire to start on my own), but when you get a free spindle and pretty fiber, well, it can’t just sit there unused, can it?
Any books or website recommendations for learning to spin on a drop spindle? I’ve checked out The Joy of Handspinning already, but would love to have some other resources.
