At each fiber show we go to I meet many beginning spinners. I really enjoy this but they have so many questions, it is difficult to know where to start in answering them.  I have created this page, since these spinners always take our pamphlets and tell us they are going to look on our website.

I am dividing the most asked questions into three groups: 

First is how to handle the yarn you have made.

Second, are the most common spinning problems. 

Third is how to wash and prepare your fiber for spinning. This answer is on a separate page.

 

Handling Your Yarn

Many beginning spinners  come to us with a wheel and a bobbin loaded with their first yarn.  They are unsure of what comes next. So, I will start with that answer.

The most basic task after spinning is taking the singles yarn off of the bobbin, or taking two full bobbins and spin them in the opposite direction, twisting the yarn uniformly together. This is plying. Plying creates a larger, stronger and usually softer yarn. The singles need to slip through your fingers with just enough tension to wrap together, not one twisting around the other. This creates a two ply. Of course, it could also be a three, four or eight ply depending on the number of singles but as a beginner, you are doing a two ply. 

To gain control of this process, two tools are available.  The first is a ball winder.

It sells for $36.65 and is pretty durable. It allows you to take the singles yarn off of your bobbin and ply it from both ends.

Doing this, you always come out even because you are plying toward the middle.  The ball winder is lightweight and easy to take with you.  You will also use it when you are ready to knit or weave with your finished yarn and as it is handy to have the yarn pull from the center as you work.

You may have gotten a lazy kate with your wheel. The lazy kate holds multiple bobbins for you to ply them.  If your lazy kate is horizontal, laying along the floor then it is useful. If it is vertical, standing one bobbin on top of each other, then I think it is a waste of time.

It is best to have a tensioned, lazy kate. A tensioned lazy kate helps by putting the tension on the bobbins as they wrap together, not one twisting around the other.  You can make one with a a basket or shoe box putting dowels in for the bobbins to spin on  freely. Then you add a tensioned string to provide some resistance for the bobbins.  (Later when you want to make novelty yarn you will be having one yarn wrapping around the other.)

Ashford has developed an economical tensioned lazy kate that I really like.  If your spinning wheel takes small bobbins, this can work for you. It sells for $34.50.

Now you have plied yarn. 

You remove the yarn from the bobbin into a skein.  The instrument to do this with is called a Niddy Noddy, a wonderful English name. Skeined yarn stores well, without tension on the fibers so they retain their elasticity. This is the form for measuring, washing, setting the twist, and dyeing the yarn. This niddy noddy sells for $14.50.

If the length of the outside bars are 18 inches, then each wrap is 2 yards. Count your wraps and you know the length of your yarn. TIE the skein in several places, before taking it off of the niddy noddy. This will keep it from getting tangled.

When you take it off, you want to wash it, possibly full it by abrading it, and then hang it to dry with a small amount of weight. This will finish your yarn and set the twist, so it evenly retains the plying you just put into it.

I like dyeing fiber after it has been made into yarn because then this is part of the finishing process and I don't have to be nearly as concerned about felting or compacting fibers as when the fibers are in roving or batts.

When you are ready to use your yarn, you encircle the skein on a swift, cut your ties and reel it off on with the ball winder.  I have three different swifts in my shop. A metal and plastic one and two wooden ones. The large one is $69.95, the smaller $59.95. The smaller metal one is $50.

This gives you the most basic tools for yarn handling. It will save you hours of work and frustration by investing in these. Not only will you not be dependent on a family member to hold the yarn while you work with it, you may find family members volunteer to wind and wrap your yarn because it is fun.

There is one more tool, I want to introduce you to.  That is the skein winder or skeiner, this is a mechanical niddy noddy. I have floor standing models from Ashford for $84. They save your shoulder when you are wrapping skein after skein for large projects.  My husband made me a skeiner, years ago and it is wonderful. I have even used it for years of selling sock yarn in our shop. If you are doing a lot of yarn, this is something to use instead of the niddy noddy.

 

The Most Common Beginning Spinning Problems

Your wheel should work smoothly, with no effort to your foot. It shouldn't make noise. The parts should glide and at most have a soft whur as you spin.

When a new spinner comes to me with an older wheel that she can't get to work, invariably the problem is a broken part, something missing or something that isn't put together right.  This is why there are Spinning and Weaving Guilds and equipment dealers. Please, don't give up and quit before you start. Find someone who knows and get your wheel into working order.

To spin, the spinner pulls out the amount of fiber needed for the diameter of yarn desired. She or he releases the fiber so that the spinning wheel puts the amount of twist into it to make a stable yarn. Next, the tension on the spinning wheel pulls the yarn onto the bobbin.  The tension needs to be set to where it pulls the yarn away from you when it has the amount of twist in it that you want. The spinner has to let go of the yarn for it to wind on.

If you don't let go, the yarn will become over-twisted. Over-twisted yarn will not feed onto the bobbin.

Keep the yarn pinched off, or the twist from coming into the main fiber. If the twist gets into the whole ball of fiber you are working from, it makes "telephone cord" and you can't make what you want. So you need to pull off the fiber out in front and just allow the twist to go into it. As the right amount of twist goes into it, release it and allow it to wind on.

The fiber is pulled out with all of the fibers being twisted. Any that aren't twisted can pill or come loose. Not doing this creates slubs and gives an uneven appearance to the yarn.

To check what your finished yarn will look like as a two ply, pull out yarn from the bobbin and let a small piece double back on itself. Looking at this, you can decide if this is the right size or if you want to make a bigger or smaller diameter yarn. 

The smaller the yarn, the more twist it takes. A large yarn doesn't need a lot of twist to still hold together. 

A spinning wheel in good working order takes very little tension, either to wind on for spinning or plying.

Some wheels do not take oil such as Louet's. Others like Ashford's need oiled, every time you use them, check your manufacturers instructions. You may need to oil every part that has any movement. If a Louet wheel is making noise, it probably needs that part wiped with a cloth to remove dust or particles that are rubbing.

Noise or rubbing is happening because something isn't working right. Occassionally, our wheels are noisy when they are too cold but quiet down after a few minutes use.

 

Hope this helps.  Happy Spinning.