Spinning 'Round 'Round 'Round

After having FINALLY gotten my newly purged yarn stash all organized and put back in my closet, I've been able to turn my attention to my collection of spinning fiber. Multi-colored rovings are even more appealing to me than yarns! So, it turns out that I have quite a few collections waiting for attention.

I don't have much left of the lovely blue/green fiber I purchased at The Black Sheep Gathering last summer. It is the first fiber I've spun on my Sonata wheel. I had intended to make socks for Bob with this yarn but it has turned out a bit thick. It's been a long time since I've done any spinning regularly so I had trouble managing a fine strand.

I also bought the beautiful driftwood basket at The Black Sheep Gathering.

For the last couple of years, I've been collecting some drop spindles. I decided to "assign" fibers to some of my favorites in the hopes of encouraging me to make some progress in getting them spun.

This Golding spindle is the very first one I bought . I love it! Well designed and it spins for ages!

I was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My mother not only enjoyed wearing silver and turqoise native American jewelry but she also appreciated native American baskets, bowls and blankets which were part of our home decor. I also love the style so when I read an article on Gabe Jaramillo's Cascabeles Spindles in the on-line spinning magazine - Spindlicity.

This is a lovely example of Gabe's Basket spindles. The little turqoise beads remind me of my mother's favorite jewelry. The basket is a bit large so I wouldn't think of carrying this spindle around with me but it is light and spins very nicely. I chose a fiber that felt western, native American, to me.

Last year a dear friend sent me a very interesting package. She spun up enough silk yarn to knit unto a pair of sock feet. She has a vintage sock knitting machine that she uses to keep her family in "hand-knit" socks. Having finished off the most challenging part of the socks, she put the stitches onto strands of holding yarns. The package arrived with the two sock feet and two baggies of the rest of the silk roving for me to try for myself. What a brilliant idea! The legs of the socks can be knit in "artistic" yarn and look like it was meant to be the design.

My Spindolyn will be a good choice for the silk spinning. I can move slowly and manage the twist carefully.

I certainly have plenty of spinning in my future!

Comments

[Rebekah]

Hi Kelly!

I've been interested in learning to spin for a while now, and your post made me even more determined. :) I see that you have both high and low whorl spindles. Which would you recommend to a beginner?

[Jenni]

Your spindles are gorgeous. I will have to look at those websites. I spin with a spindle. I took a wheel spinning class and then went out and bought a spindle :)

[Marie]

I'm so envious of all your fiber. What a joy it will be to spin it all up.

[Lori]

Those fibers are beautiful! You take such pretty pictures, too!

[Angelika]

I love those spindles, especially the spindolin. I have enough to do knitting up the yarn you sell to start a new hobby.

[Melly]

You have two of the spindles I am thinking of purchasing. The Spindlyn and the Golding. I know the Spindolyn gives smaller cops, but I like the ability to wind it on the shaft in a continuous movement after spinning.
Do you have a preference between the two? Is one more effective than the other? I guess I am trying to decide which would be more all purpose.

[Karyn]

My question is the same as Melly's; which spindle do you prefer, the Golding or the Spindolyn? I have a basic beginner spindle, but I would like to upgrade; I'm interested in spinning mainly lace to sock weight yarns. I also have a wheel, but I like the portability of a spindle and I think I would enjoy my wheel more if I was more proficient with the spindle.

Any chance of Knit Picks selling fibers to spin somewhere down the road? Not that I don't have enough KP yarn to knit up already.

Hi Karyn and Melly,

I would recommend the Spindolyn for lightweight spinning. My Spindolyn is a relatively new purchase so I haven't had much time with it but I love not having to worry about it dropping on the floor.

The Golding spindles are absolutely gorgeous and they do spin for AGES! They would be easier to travel with because I think the metal shafts of the Spindolyn would be susceptible to bending and probably wouldn't get through security.

Kelley