Spinning a New Passion

I have no idea when I decided to learn spinning. I know it was sometime between the ages of 13 and 16. Probably closer to 13. My dad and I go to the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's (MREA's) Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair almost every summer. I started going the year I turned 13, I had won a t-shirt design contest for a special kids' shirt that year, and I've been going ever since.

At the fair there are booths set up promoting products to live a sustainable life. Several of the booths were selling products and one booth always fascinated me. It was Mielke's Farm, now Mielke's Fiber Arts. Their booth was full of wool, fleeces, roving, rugs, finished products like socks, hats and mittens, spinning wheels and drop spindles.

My first spun yarn. Chunky and uneven and I still don't know what to make out of it!

This one year I had the itch to learn how to spin so I bought myself a drop spindle beginner's kit. It had a drop spindle, a small bundle of light blue wool roving, and printed sheets of how-to instructions. That year I also bought a bag of bright turquoise roving because I thought for sure I'd be able to finish spinning the roving that had come with the beginner's kit and that I would want some more.

Plus I needed the practice. Even after using all the roving from the beginner's kit and part of the roving from my extra bag, I was still making chunky uneven yarn.

My first two batches of yarn.

The next year I was bored of my solid roving colors and decided I should get one of the variegated bags of roving. It was called "blue," but only had a base of blue. There was also yellow, red, green, pink, white and other colors mixed with it. Using up this roving was far more fun than the solid colors. Every now and then the colors besides blue would make a solid appearance and I ended up with a bright spot of color.

I bought the blue roving at least 12 years ago, I just finished turning it into yarn last week. I've now started on the process of turning the remaining turquoise roving into yarn. Here's a photo process of how I spin:

The "blue" roving before being spun, this is only a small amount left from what I started with.

A section is pulled from the main ball of roving leaving wispy ends.

The wispy ends on the roving are spread out a bit in length to be more easily spun onto the wool already on the spindle without creating a lump in the yarn, whether that is the beginning yarn left on the spindle or the end of the yarn you are making.

The bit left to overlap with the new roving.

While spinning "singles," the yarn before it is made into 2-ply, the spindle is spun in a clockwise direction. The yarn is worked up the center shaft in a spiral and wrapped a few times around the hook at the top of the shaft, keeping the yarn on the spindle with friction.

The white at the base is the starter yarn, every yarn begins by being spun to this starter.

I hold the roving in my left hand keeping a firm but gentle grip to keep the fibers from slipping loose and allowing the spindle to fall. My right hand controls the constant spinning of the spindle and the flow of fibers from the roving.

You can spin with a spindle sitting down, but then you will have to wind the spun singles more often.

I prefer to stand.

I can spin the section of roving I pulled from the main ball in about 7 minutes, unless I lose my rhythm and drop the spindle.

My cats are always interested in helping. I think they are attracted to
the smell of the wool and of course the spinning thing of yarn!

Once I have a full spindle, or I run out of roving like I did here, I turn the "singles" into 2-ply yarn.

Only partially full, but I ran out of roving before I had a full spindle.

To turn singles into 2-ply I recently learned how to Andean Ply by watching a video from Mielke's Fiber Arts. Mielke's Farm Andean Plying Before this I unwound my whole spindle back and forth through the house creating a spider web to match up the two ends of my singles.

Wrap the end of your single around your pointer finger to anchor it.

Your palm is the front of your hand.

Bring the yarn to the back of your hand, around to the front and
loop it around your middle finger going back the way you came from.

Then down behind your thumb, back to the front.

And around your middle finger again, heading back the way you came.

The loops will alternate over each other on your middle finger.

Continue to do this until you run out of singles, or your hand can't hold any more.

Don't do this wrapping too tight, you don't want to cut off any circulation to your fingers and you will need to be able to take the loops off your middle finger.

You will slip the overlapping layers off your middle finger carefully

Here is the overlapping section taken off my finger. Slide the singles down to your wrist.

Turn the overlapping section to the back of your wrist.

The ends will automatically want to spin together.

I knot together the two ends of my singles Hook the knotted end to the end of your spindle, you will now be spinning opposite of how you made the singles. Spin your spindle counterclockwise. If you watch the video, Mielke's Farm does a very good job of explaining how to do Andean Plying.

I tied a knot in the end to start the plying process.

The two parts of the singles will come from the back of your hand, around either side of it, to meet up at your thumb and fingers. This is how you will keep the proper amount of singles coming to prevent any knotting or uneven plying. Once I have the plying started, I move the knotted end to the point on the bottom of my spindle and wrap the yarn around the shaft working in counterclockwise fashion. Continue plying until you reach the end of the singles.

The final end will have a loop in it.

I do not have a niddy noddy, a spinning tool for making skeins of yarn. I use the back of my chair.

Loop goes over the top of my chair back.

Taking the yarn from the spindle to the back of my chair.

I slip the yarn from here.

Twist the ends a bit.

And stick one end through the loop of the other to make a bundle.

I don't know when it happened, but at some point during my spinning I finally got the rhythm figured out and have a much more even spinning ability. No more lumps, I still sometimes get a thin spot that comes apart though.

My four little "skeins" of yarn.

The problem I have now is that I don't like to knit. I have my spun yarn, but don't know what to turn it into. I'd like to make something for myself so that I can say that I made this from roving to singles to yarn to... Whatever I end up making. Maybe a hat, mittens. Maybe a shawl. I'm not sure yet. One thing I do know however, I'm going to need more wool!