Spin it

Well, I did it...I bought a drop spindle kit. It arrived a couple of days ago, and I've had two evenings of (cough) 'spinning.' Let's just say I'm going to need lots of practice! The kit from here came with a basic spindle, some roving and the book Spin It by Lee Raven. It has lots of good information in it, and seems pretty easy to follow. So I jumped in...and made some rope. Definitely wouldn't call it yarn.

So I did a little more research online and discovered I needed to do a LOT more in the way of preparing the fiber before I tried to spin it. Especially the roving that came with the kit, which comes pretty compacted. So I split it into several lengths, then pre-drafted and pre-drafted again, then tried to spin it. Much better! Still pretty thick, but not 'rope' thick.

Spin-Off has some good articles on their website, and Grafton Fibers has a great description of the process, as does Lollipops.

I'm using the 'park and draft' method, because boy, there's a lot to coordinate. Very addictive, though.

I'm using this purply-blue roving first, because it's definitely coarser than the other roving that came with the kit (unfortunately, it doesn't identify what they are). So I'm saving the softer stuff for later when, hopefully, I'm better.

But all in all..fun, fun, fun!