I found a big bump of wool /mohair on fb marketplace for cheap that I've been learning on and it's perfect. I've heard corriedale too, and i started on it a few years ago but ended up abandoning the whole thing in a in huge cross country move. I find the wool/mohair blend so pleasant to draft and I like a really fine yarn, which I'm getting super easily even on my drop spindle. I really think it just depends on what you want. I saw Abby Franquemont give the advice of getting as many different types of fiber as you can or want to and to just not be afraid, because there are so many different cultures of spinning in the world and people have learned on all sorts of fiber in all sorts of ways. I found that super empowering. Also I LOVE your colors and your aesthetic so much 💜
I could sit and listen to you speak all day. You have such a soothing tone and cadence and your joy and happiness are so palpable. Thanks for being so lovely, I’m glad I found your channel!
Your yarn looks amazing, Dordy! Many spinners would love to create such a beautiful singles yarn! And yes, get your hand carders as spinning from your own prepared wool brings the spinning experience to a whole new level. I love seeing what your up to! 🥰
I'm glad spinning has helped you to find your knitting mojo again. The RUclipsr CrowingHen has a video on those times when, as she puts it, "we go through periods of remission". It's called "Yarn is more forgiving than you think", ruclips.net/user/shortsB3ZADWl5yek And if your knitting mojo takes another holiday at some time in the future, maybe that's a sign to start crocheting or weaving or felting or embroidering or dress making or lace making or ...
I’ve just started spinning myself… my incentive was thatI can’t sit and knit for a long time yet, due to issues with spinal surgery taking it’s sweet time to heal. I’m a lace knitter and have a bit ofan addiction to very fine yarn. A friend of mine is a spinner and when I asked her for advice she told me that for fine yarn, she’d recommend either a very, very light drop spindle, which comes with its own issues as a light drop spindle is hard to spin, OR to dive into spinning using a supported spindle. According to her, a lot of people who get frustrated with drop spindles will pick up on supported spindle spinning a lot easier. That it’s not as hard as people might think. So… off I went. I’ve got two lovely supported spindles. (I’ve also got a set of cheap 3-D printed Turkish spindles.) One of my supported spindles can take a much larger cop than the other one. That being said, the smaller one is my favourite because it just spins and spins and spins. As the cop builds I can lighten it because it’s made of coins perforated at the centre, I can just remove a coin if I need to. I can make single ply laceweight yarn on my supported spindles, and am currently working on consistency. I check my twist and even out inconsistencies by ‘untwisting’’ small, thicker portions and drafting them out a bit more when I wind from my temporary cop to my permanent one and if there’s too much/too little twist, I even it out a bit. It seems to work and I’m only just a week in. When my cop is so big I need to transfer what I’ve spun it goes onto my biggest Turkish spindle. That way I get a centre pull ball should I wish to ply my yarn (don’t know yet). When I’ve got more to load onto the Turkish spindle, I can join the singles from the drop spindle to the singles on the Turkish spindle quite easily. As long as both ends are fluffed out, the join is nearly invisible and strong. Yay! Please keep at it, and maybe consider giving supported spindles a try if thin yarn is your thing. Spinning is very quickly becoming addictive. Given the size of my home and my budget (both tiny!), if I really get i to spinning (very probable!) I already know what I’m upgrading to: a kick spindle. Small, very portable, and only a fraction of the cost of a spinning wheel. My friend makes the most amazing laceweight and cobweb weight yarn with hers. It’s from the States, it’s foldable, and you can easily load and unload separate spindles onto the frame. If I want to give plying a go I would need a few spools and a lazy Kate unless I learn to spin thin enough to do plying on the fly… my next goal! It was great seeing someone else starting on their journey in the world of handspun yarn. Please keep sharing, and I hope you stick with it as I’ll be following right along!
I'd strongly suggest that you have a look at some of Evie's videos on the JillianEve channel. She's got a lot of information about some of the things you are thinking about, including cheap alternatives to lazy Kates and her experience with a kick spindle. One alternative approach I have seen for spindle plying is to take the two balls of yarn (since you are transferring yours onto a Turkish spindle) and then wind them together into a single ball. (This is akin to knitting a marled effect.) Then use a spindle to ply the two yarns together. Jente of the Mijn Walden channel uses that method.
@@resourcedragon - Thank you! I’m still addicted to spinning and have discovered Jillian Eve’s channel. Since posting my comment I’ve sadly gotten the confirmation that my condition isn’t going to improve much, which means even a kick spindle isn’t an option (too painful too fast) but I did purchase Dreaming Robot’s EEW Nano2. Funds permitting I might purchase the EEW6 as well. For now, the yardage I get on the spools of my Nano2 is more or less identical to commercially available balls of lace weight yarn which means roughly the same amount of joins in a finished knitted project. And I do spin to knit, and spin for specific projects. I’ll check out that other channel, I haven’t come across it yet. I’ll go look for it!
You and expression.el are inspiring me to start carding and spinning too! I've been obsessed with your work since I discovered you and I really like how the sweater turned out in today's video ❤ have a good one!
Ooooooh well done! Welcome to the world of handspun yarn! Be warned though, you'll never want anything else :D
I found a big bump of wool /mohair on fb marketplace for cheap that I've been learning on and it's perfect. I've heard corriedale too, and i started on it a few years ago but ended up abandoning the whole thing in a in huge cross country move.
I find the wool/mohair blend so pleasant to draft and I like a really fine yarn, which I'm getting super easily even on my drop spindle.
I really think it just depends on what you want. I saw Abby Franquemont give the advice of getting as many different types of fiber as you can or want to and to just not be afraid, because there are so many different cultures of spinning in the world and people have learned on all sorts of fiber in all sorts of ways. I found that super empowering.
Also I LOVE your colors and your aesthetic so much 💜
I could sit and listen to you speak all day. You have such a soothing tone and cadence and your joy and happiness are so palpable. Thanks for being so lovely, I’m glad I found your channel!
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. WOW
i would love to own sheep and live on a farm as well
Your yarn looks amazing, Dordy! Many spinners would love to create such a beautiful singles yarn! And yes, get your hand carders as spinning from your own prepared wool brings the spinning experience to a whole new level. I love seeing what your up to! 🥰
Thank you! means a lot!! sooo keen to get some carders - then a spinning wheel ☺️☺️☺️
Ive always wanted to get into spinning my own yarn this was so great to watch! Great video!
thanks friend!
do it!! it’s sooo much fun! 💗
Your yarn is very nice. I am new at this and have uneven yarn with the roving.
I'm glad spinning has helped you to find your knitting mojo again.
The RUclipsr CrowingHen has a video on those times when, as she puts it, "we go through periods of remission". It's called "Yarn is more forgiving than you think", ruclips.net/user/shortsB3ZADWl5yek
And if your knitting mojo takes another holiday at some time in the future, maybe that's a sign to start crocheting or weaving or felting or embroidering or dress making or lace making or ...
I’ve just started spinning myself… my incentive was thatI can’t sit and knit for a long time yet, due to issues with spinal surgery taking it’s sweet time to heal. I’m a lace knitter and have a bit ofan addiction to very fine yarn.
A friend of mine is a spinner and when I asked her for advice she told me that for fine yarn, she’d recommend either a very, very light drop spindle, which comes with its own issues as a light drop spindle is hard to spin, OR to dive into spinning using a supported spindle. According to her, a lot of people who get frustrated with drop spindles will pick up on supported spindle spinning a lot easier. That it’s not as hard as people might think.
So… off I went. I’ve got two lovely supported spindles. (I’ve also got a set of cheap 3-D printed Turkish spindles.) One of my supported spindles can take a much larger cop than the other one. That being said, the smaller one is my favourite because it just spins and spins and spins. As the cop builds I can lighten it because it’s made of coins perforated at the centre, I can just remove a coin if I need to.
I can make single ply laceweight yarn on my supported spindles, and am currently working on consistency. I check my twist and even out inconsistencies by ‘untwisting’’ small, thicker portions and drafting them out a bit more when I wind from my temporary cop to my permanent one and if there’s too much/too little twist, I even it out a bit. It seems to work and I’m only just a week in.
When my cop is so big I need to transfer what I’ve spun it goes onto my biggest Turkish spindle. That way I get a centre pull ball should I wish to ply my yarn (don’t know yet). When I’ve got more to load onto the Turkish spindle, I can join the singles from the drop spindle to the singles on the Turkish spindle quite easily. As long as both ends are fluffed out, the join is nearly invisible and strong. Yay!
Please keep at it, and maybe consider giving supported spindles a try if thin yarn is your thing.
Spinning is very quickly becoming addictive. Given the size of my home and my budget (both tiny!), if I really get i to spinning (very probable!) I already know what I’m upgrading to: a kick spindle. Small, very portable, and only a fraction of the cost of a spinning wheel. My friend makes the most amazing laceweight and cobweb weight yarn with hers. It’s from the States, it’s foldable, and you can easily load and unload separate spindles onto the frame. If I want to give plying a go I would need a few spools and a lazy Kate unless I learn to spin thin enough to do plying on the fly… my next goal!
It was great seeing someone else starting on their journey in the world of handspun yarn. Please keep sharing, and I hope you stick with it as I’ll be following right along!
I'd strongly suggest that you have a look at some of Evie's videos on the JillianEve channel. She's got a lot of information about some of the things you are thinking about, including cheap alternatives to lazy Kates and her experience with a kick spindle.
One alternative approach I have seen for spindle plying is to take the two balls of yarn (since you are transferring yours onto a Turkish spindle) and then wind them together into a single ball. (This is akin to knitting a marled effect.) Then use a spindle to ply the two yarns together. Jente of the Mijn Walden channel uses that method.
@@resourcedragon - Thank you! I’m still addicted to spinning and have discovered Jillian Eve’s channel. Since posting my comment I’ve sadly gotten the confirmation that my condition isn’t going to improve much, which means even a kick spindle isn’t an option (too painful too fast) but I did purchase Dreaming Robot’s EEW Nano2. Funds permitting I might purchase the EEW6 as well. For now, the yardage I get on the spools of my Nano2 is more or less identical to commercially available balls of lace weight yarn which means roughly the same amount of joins in a finished knitted project. And I do spin to knit, and spin for specific projects.
I’ll check out that other channel, I haven’t come across it yet. I’ll go look for it!
Thank you for sharing
You and expression.el are inspiring me to start carding and spinning too! I've been obsessed with your work since I discovered you and I really like how the sweater turned out in today's video ❤ have a good one!
aw thanks so much !! appreciate u! 💗💗💗