Any drop spindle tips?

[Ninny]

I can but it kills my back. First off do the park and spin method. Draft your wool the spin. It's faster to me. I would see if anywhere near you teaches classes.

 

[purplequeenvt]

#1 - Practice, practice, practice!
#2 - There is a reason it is called a "drop" spindle

I like spinning on my drop spindle better than on a wheel. I would suggest pre-drafting your fiber and starting with wool you don't mind getting messed up. It takes a while to coordinate keeping the spindle spinning and your hands on the wool.

Good luck!

 

[Ninny]

#1 - Practice, practice, practice!
#2 - There is a reason it is called a "drop" spindle

I like spinning on my drop spindle better than on a wheel. I would suggest pre-drafting your fiber and starting with wool you don't mind getting messed up. It takes a while to coordinate keeping the spindle spinning and your hands on the wool.

Good luck!

Yup. I think it should be renamed throw spindle. When I started it would go flying and smack against the wall. I also found that there are different kinds and weights of spindles and I wish I had know that before I tried mohair. I was in tears before a lady down at the yarn shoppe rescued me. I need to find a way that it doesn't hurt my back. I found I prefer roving over clouds and batts as well.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Is it top whorl or bottom whorl? I have a Louet top whorl and I roll it on my thigh to get the spin and it works really well. Again, draft fiber ahead of time. Practice, practice practice. My first attempts were awful, but I learned to draft as much as I can and you have to learn to "trust" the wool. Pinch, but not too tight and let it slide through your fingers as the spindle drops.

There are some good demos on YouTube

 

[Ninny]

So I was spinning a bit tonight and thought of this thread. I have both a bottom and top whorl. I use my bottom for woolen yarns and to get a thin even spin. I use my top for worsted ( fluffy not much twist) yarn. Do I have that backwards? :/ Any how and the top one I use for plying. I can get it going much faster by rolling it on my leg then with my figures like the bottom one. I practice making slubby yarn because it's helping with my control. That and I like it.

 

[SillyChicken]

I picked up a beauty at the fiber expo this weekend... it's tough to get the hang of it. My first round here turned out really chunky. Not to hijack the OP thread, but once you get the spinning part down. how can you keep your yarn from expanding or relaxing the twist. I soaked this thread in hot water for 20 min (after unrolling and tying) and it came out twice as thick as you see here. Is that normal? I made sure I was spinning in the same direction.