I'm currently patching stuff animals for my sobrinho and there's nothing to really show (ones a big cartoony giraffe and the other is a small green dinosaur named Sinclair) but!
I'm also in the middle of reading The Books of Magic comic series and in issue number 62, specifically the short "The Scrying Pool", we have a woman depicted as carding and spinning on drop spindles. It was fairly accurate, imo, and I'm very impressed!
First image : angled over head shot of a young black haired woman in a sky blue dress with fiber in her lap. She is using carders full of fiber. There is a basket to her side with spindles with full cops and a basket behind her with fluffy yarn.
Second image : a slightly different angled shot of the same woman who is now using a drop spindle with a distaff to spin. The spindle looks like it might have been modeled after some midevil European spindles.
Got all four spindles in action today! 3 different silks (one blend) and some bamboo 😍 . #handspun #dropspindle #turkishspindle #dropspinning https://www.instagram.com/gnearing/p/BvaoJkchtcB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jc54r4gd98fg
🎉🎉🎉Shop Update 🎉🎉🎉 The wait is over! Introducing our brand new 1 Yard Llabrys Niddy Nøsty 3-in-1 Spinner's Tool. Same great functionality as our beloved 1/2 Yard Niddy Nøsties but with a more robust design and convenient wrap length. This is a must-have tool for anyone who likes to travel with their spinning and especially for drop spinners! You get a nøstepinne, a 1 yard niddy noddy and WPI gauge all in one convenient tool that disassembles for easy storage in your project bag! I love using the nøstepinne to wind my handspun singles from my spindle and into a plying ball. After plying I can use the niddy noddy to wind my finished yarn into a skein and my WPI gauge is always at hand! Made from locally sourced cherry wood, these Niddy Nøsties also feature decorative gemstone inlays for a tool that is as beautiful as it is functional. #LladyLlama #LLFC #spinnersofinstagram #yarnmakersofinstagram #spinstagram #yarnmaker #spinning #handspinning #handspun #handspinningtools #nøstepinne #niddynoddy #niddynøsty #spinningtools #dropspinning #dropspinnersofinstagram #handspunyarn https://www.instagram.com/p/BpIaq7HHRBE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=yvrvcfykplze
I haven't touched my drop spindles in forever. So I think I'm going to start taking my KCL with me to work to spin on my lunch breaks. When I'm not napping that is..... working graveyard shift while living with a Day shifter is brutal.
I had an ask about some drop-spinning resources and I ended up writing 2 pages on it, so I figured, since I already had it all written up, I might as well post it as well.
I’m going to apologize now, because this is going to be a VERY long answer.
I also apologize because I reference The Woolry a lot and they are a US based store….If you aren’t based in the United States, I apologize. I don’t generally shop for fiber outside of the US, just because international shipping costs, and as such, can not give advice on the quality or whereabouts of local-ish fiber shops.
As for what to do for purchasing supplies, you kinda have two options:
The two places I suggest looking to buy are either Etsy or The Woolry. Both places have a options, but Etsy being essentially “crafty Amazon”, where it is a collection of sellers using one platform/site, it has A LOT more choices than The Woolry, but, the Woolry is a store that specializes in fiber arts and are, overall, is a great store to shop.
Either way, you have two choices from either site: you can get a kit or buy separately. Most of the kits I have seen do not come with “name brand spindles” so I can’t attest to the quality of the drop spindle but in general, kits tend to be the cheaper route and can be a great starting point.
The other way is to buy a drop spindle and fiber separately. If you would prefer to go this route, I suggest any of these brands a I find them to be reliably of good quality and not stupidly expensive: Louet (https://woolery.com/louet-high-whorl-spindle.html), Kromski
(https://woolery.com/kromski-drop-spindles.html), Ashford (https://woolery.com/ashford-student-drop-spindle.html), or Snyder (https://www.etsy.com/listing/546383905/medium-weight-mahogany-steampunk-gear?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=drop+spindle&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&organic_search_click=1&cns=1). (I used mostly Woolry links but you can find Louet, Kromski, and Ashford spindles on Etsy if you want, the Woolry is just easier to navigate). I highly suggest a top whorl as I find that most people find the top whorl spindles easier to master at first. In general, a good student/beginner spindle weights 2-3oz.
As for what to spin, do not, for the love of Athena, get silk or cellulose fibers or synthetic fibers. Plant/cellulose based fibers are much more difficult to spin then protein based fibers because they do not have any “grip” or “tooth” - because of the cell structure of plants, the surface is smooth where protein based fibers are scaled on the surface, allowing the fiber to grip together. Synthetic fibers are much like cellulose in that they tend to be smoother and harder to spin (and in some cases, are meant to be blended with other fibers, not spun alone). Silk is one of those “it’s technically a protein fiber (because of it’s cell structure) but it spins like a cellulose fiber”. TLDR: please just get wool, it will be much easier to learn.
Now, not to confuse you too much, I’m just going to say: for a beginner, I suggest getting roving (or, as some people call it “top” or “top roving”). There are multiple different ways to prepare fiber and there is a lot of names and I could literally write a whole dissertation-length paper on the differences with a lot of technical terms, and if you really want that, I’ll throw it up in a separate post. For know, top roving is the short answer.
Wool breeds: for simplicity and for time, I suggest either: merino, BFL (blue face Leicester), or polwarth. I have seen a lot of debate over which breed of the 1000s of wool breeds is best for beginners to learn, and honestly, I don’t think there is one, perfect answer. Mostly, I suggest either one of those three because they are of the easier breeds to spin because of fiber staple (the length of the fiber) and the toothyness of the fiber (this is technically called the micron count of the fiber) generally leaves it soft to the touch but still easy to spin.
The Woolry has some good plain wool to purchase but most of it is undyed - which is cheaper. They sell it in 8oz braids (which, btw, is twice what you get for a “standard” braid of top roving - always look at the weight). But some people find plain, undyed wool boring to spin so…..I have a color dyers I recommend:
Wonderland Dyeworks (currently closed but her fiber braids???? I absolutely love them, she is one of the first booths I shop at when I go to Stitches West) (https://www.etsy.com/shop/WonderlandDyeworks)
Three Waters Farm (https://www.etsy.com/shop/threewatersfarm)
Greenwood Fiber Works (https://greenwoodfiberworks.com/collections/hand-dyed-roving-1/merino)
As for resources for spinning, my all time favorite books for handspinning:
Spinning in the Old Way: (https://www.amazon.com/Spinning-Old-Way-High-Whorl-Handspindle-ebook/dp/B002I5E42K/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=spinning+in+the+old+way&qid=1590422946&sr=8-1)
This is an old gun case that my aunt was going to toss out - she prefers locking, metal ones - and I stole it to see how it would work for my spindles. It's not perfect but I still adore it. Now, I just need another one, preferably a tad deeper to fit all the other spindles, and I would be one happy girl.
