November 7, 2009

Guest post by Jodi Meadows

A continuing epic adventure of socks and spindles and fanciness

Part two: THE SPINDLING (addiction)

by Jodi Meadows, aged twenty-six and mumble months

After I’d been knitting some time, I got the spinning itch. I’d seen enough droolworthy handspun yarns I knew I wanted my own, but I had no idea what I was really getting myself into when I mentioned my spinning desires to my mom, and she sent me this for my birthday.

A spindle kit. Yummy purple fiber, and a painted spindle.

Now, I’d seen spindles before. Sort of. My yarn shop (which no longer exists) had spinning classes, but I only had eyes for the wheel the owner kept stashed in the back. When I’d asked about spinning, she picked up a stick and a weight and said something about spinning on those, but I could not fathom how one would do that. One requires a spinning wheel to make yarn. Why couldn’t she understand?

Oh how wrong I was. Upon receiving my spindle, I watched as many spindling videos on YouTube as I could. This one helped me the most.*

The first thing I learned was that spindles have two important parts. The shaft (stick) is what the spinner winds spun yarn onto, and the whorl (weight) is what keeps the whole thing spinning. The whorl also determines how thick your yarn will be.** That part has to do with weight, and brings me into the next important thing: heavy spindles will spin thick yarn, while light spindles will spin thin yarn.

Oh yes, this means to spin a range of yarns, you need a range of spindles.

Oh drat.

Yes, as it turns out, there are an unimaginable number of spindle makers out there, selling their distressingly beautiful spindles to the unwary. I (sort of) got off easy; I have eight spindles, but I know a woman who has…probably over a hundred by now. Because even when you get a light spindle for thin yarn, and a heavy spindle for thick yarn, and a medium spindle for medium yarn, and then start filling in the holes — just because you have a spindle that weighs .8oz and one that weighs 1.0oz doesn’t mean you don’t need that .9oz! — there are still more spindles you NEED. I mean, you don’t have a stone spindle like that, or a spindle in that kind of wood, or this one over here made you faint and you must have it right now! For the most part, spindles are fairly inexpensive. (Depending on the material and crafter, but you can generally expect to pay $25 – $50 for a pretty and better than decent spindle that’s going to last.)

They’re collectable. Slightly addictive. Other spindle addicts aren’t even good for talking you out of buying that expensive spindle, either. They’ll ENCOURAGE you to do it, even if your kids have to eat peanut butter and jelly three meals a day so you can afford it! They’re enablers. All of them.

Ahem. So you see how I narrowly escaped being a crazy spindle lady, right?***

The first spindle up there is 1.8 ounces; it’s my heaviest spindle, and the one I use for plying. (General advice is to use a heavy bottom whorl spindle for plying. You can pack a lot onto them.)****

I prefer lighter spindles, however. The second one is a flower shaped glass whorl, at 1.3 ounces. It’s a nice, comfortable weight, and even though it’s on the heavier side of my preferred range, I’ve spun some pretty thin yarn on it.

The third spindle up there is a resin spindle, which weighs .8oz. This is probably my favorite weight.

Spindle whorls can also be made of unusual things, like shells. This mother of pearl spindle is .4oz, and perfect for fine, fine lace yarn. (Here it is with silk. Mmmm.)

This is probably the first spindle that made me faint with spindle lust. I didn’t care how much it weighed (.5oz), or what it was made from (resin), only that it had this nifty openwork design, and it was SHINY.

And speaking of shiny. It’s so shiny the fiber (merino wool and silk, mmm) washes out, but it was the only way I could get a clear shot of the amazing colors in the glass whorl.

With the exception of the first spindle, all these spindles came from the same seller, Butterflygirl. But I was also consumed with spindle lust from another person known for gorgeous spindles and outstanding craftsmanship, Golding. (If you think his spindles are nice, wait until we get to the wheels.)

The first was a gift from my in-laws, and the second from Jeff. The whorl is ebony. I spent days drooling over it. Excuse me while I hug it for a moment.

Well, it seems this post has become an excuse for me to show off my spindles. I have a lot more to say about them, and about spinning, but I’ve run out of room. Next post.

But to sum up, I think we’ve learned some important lessons:

1. Spindles are addictive.

2. Spindles can be made from whatever you want, even a pencil and sink strainer. (Seriously.)

3. You need (need!) a lot of spindles to produce a range of yarns (and backup spindles in case the one you want already has yarn on it).

4. Yarn weight is determined by spindle weight.

5. Whorls with weight concentrated in the center will spin faster, but not always long, while rim-weighted whorls will have a long spin, but not necessarily fast. (Center-weighted would be the resin spindle with leaves. Rim-weighted would be the Golding — note the brass ring around the edge to focus weight there.)

Okay, no, we didn’t discuss that last one. I just threw it in there. But it’s absolutely true, and is another reason to have more spindles: maybe you have a .8oz center-weighted spindle, but not a rim-weighted one, and you need that for the kind of yarn you want to spin.

And what the heck, let’s have another photo.

–

*This was the only video Abby had available when I started. Now she has two more, here and here. If you’re interested in spinning, I highly recommend these videos. Abby is a fabulous spinner and teacher, even online.

**To an extent. It’s very possible to spin thick or thin yarn on spindles you wouldn’t normally, but it’s not as comfortable. Too heavy for a thin yarn, the yarn can snap. Too light for a thick yarn, the spindle won’t spin very long.

***Much to my surprise, Jeff fell for spindles, too. I used to catch him browsing Etsy for spindles. He has great taste.

****A visual aid:

November 7, 2009 | Filed Under guest blog 

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