In this second part of the “Going for a Spin” series on Fiber Friday I’m going to delve a little deeper into the alluring art of hand spinning.

For those who are considering take up the art of spinning, allow me to make a few recommendations. Every spinner will give you different advice and I am only offering my own personal experience as a jumping off point. First things first; as with anything else know ahead of time that you are not going to be awesome at it right away. If you do miraculously manage to get an even, soft, perfect twist on the first try; you my friend are a spinning prodigy and don’t you dare tell another spinner that you did it on the first try. You risk bodily injury and reclamation of your fiber stash. They will knock you down and confiscate your fiber.

Secondly, just like with knitting or crochet or any other handicraft; start with the best supplies you can afford but also the right tools for the job. Alpaca, silk, angora and bamboo are all gorgeous fibers and make lovely yarn but for a beginner they are often hard to spin. Try using medium/crossbred wool like Coopworth or Corriedale, they are wonderful beginner fibers.

Since the art of hand spinning is such an organic, natural and wholesome way to connect with your craft I strongly urge you to try dying your own fiber. In an upcoming Fiber Friday article I’ll be going over some ideas for hand dying, but in the meantime experimentation is always fun! If you want to start with fiber dyed by a professional (or creative amateur) you need look no further than plugging ‘fiber’ into your shop search bar on ArtFire. There are hundreds of incredibly talented and proficient hand dyers out there just waiting to tempt you with their wares. As always find something that appeals to you and will be interesting to work with. I personally go straight for the bright colors as I find them both fun and easier to see what you’re doing when you’re working with it.

I know that all the beautiful toys that go along with spinning are very easy to get excited about, but purchasing a spinning wheel with no experience (while fun!) is probably not the most prudent way of going about things. Consider learning on a drop spindle first; drop spindling allows you to go slower, focus on drafting and pay 

closer attention to what you are doing. Just like with fiber, there are hundreds of spindle makers out there who can set you up with a gorgeous spindle to get you started. There are many different types of spindles, but I found the top whorl spindle the easiest to work with personally. Once you master the drop spindle, I will personally help you pick out and name that first wheel.

There are books, websites, videos and guilds that will all teach you how to spin, but coming from a purely inspirational perspective; I recommend just playing around for a while to get comfortable with the fiber, the spindle or wheel and the entire process. Remember someone had to think this up all on their own at one point without the help of books or the internet, it’s one of the oldest crafts in the world and given enough time, you can figure it out.

(Sheep Image courtesy of Colliapes Muse, Walnut Moorit Icelandic Sheep image courtesy of eXtreme Spinning.)