The Basics of Hand Spinning Yarn
Spinning is Peaceful, Fun and Increasingly Popular
Spinning yarn by hand is growing in popularity as knitters and crocheters take up spindles and start treadling wheels.
With knitting now well re-established as a favorite hobby of multitudes of women, men and children around the world, the numbers of spinners are now steadily growing again. What once used to be an essential cottage industry that kept families clothed from the fleeces shorn from sheep they raised themselves, spinning is now the perfect complement to knitting and crochet. Here's a quick look at the reasons why someone might want to learn to spin their own yarn, and the two main methods of spinning.
Why Learn to Spin Yarn?
If you knit, crochet or weave, you most likely already have a love affair with yarn well established. The right yarn can make a project exceptional, and knowing how to substitute yarns appropriately is an essential skill as a knitter or crocheter. Learning how to spin gives you a much deeper and broader understanding of the characteristics of good yarn and how that character is created, which means you'll be better able to choose or spin the perfect yarns for projects.
The act of spinning itself is highly soothing, meditative and peaceful once you have learned the skill. Also, buying prepared fiber is cheaper than buying commercially spun yarn, so by spinning your own yarn you can often afford to buy better quality fiber, or luxury fibers such as silk, alpaca and cashmere.
Spinning on a Spindle
A good way to get started with spinning is to learn the basics with a spindle first. Spinning on a spindle is not only a stepping stone to spinning on a wheel, and many people continue to spin primarily with their spindle even once they have mastered the skill of spinning. A spindle is made up of a whorl, which is a wide disc that provides weight and momentun for a long spin, a shaft, which extends either above or below the whorl and holds the yarn once it is spun, and a hook to transfer the spin from the spindle to the yarn. You can either make a spindle yourself from materials available at a hardware store or a spare CD, or buy one from your local yarn store or an online supplier. Etsy is a good place to look for both spindles and fiber for spinning.
Spinning on a Wheel
Spinning yarn on a wheel speeds up the process, and allows a spinner to spin more yarn in a shorter amount of time. A spinning wheel can be a considerable financial investment, however, so if you want to learn to spin on a wheel but don't want to buy one new, look for a spinning class nearby or search out a fellow spinner who is willing to teach you on their wheel. Wheels vary in size from several feet in diameter to collapsible travel wheels that can fit into the overhead bin on an aircraft, and often come with many accessories, such as attachments that allow you to spin very fine or very chunky yarns.
Spinning is fun, easy to get started with and very addictive once you've got the hang of it. Spinning gives the knitter more than just beautiful yarn to knit with; it is a peaceful activity and a fun, new way to spend time with great fiber.
