Hand spinning:

 How do you hand spin the natural animal fibers into to yarn?  One method that has been in practice for thousands of years is using a drop spindle.  Drop spindle spinning is the most basic way to spin.  A weighted spindle, gravity, fiber, and your hands are used to twist the fibers in to a single ply strand.  With some practice you can be making great yarn in no time. You can also ply or join more than one single into two-ply or three-ply yarn. Yarn made with a drop spindle is just as strong and versatile as yarn spun on a wheel.

 Using a drop spindle:

Bottom whorl spindles are among the most popular so these directions for are spinning with a bottom whorl spindle.

 You will need to begin by attaching a leader to your spindle. Tie a piece of yarn about 12 inches long to the shaft just above the whorl. Wrap the yarn over the side of whorl, loop it around the shaft, back up over the whorl, and then secure the end to the hook. Place some drafted (pulled thin) fiber on the end of the leader.

 Allow the spindle to dangle as you hold it by the leader in your left hand. Take the leader in your left hand and the spindle in the right.  Using the shaft spin the spindle in a clockwise manner. When you are making single ply yarn you will always spin the spindle clockwise. Spin the spindle until the leader begins to take in the twist. When the twist begins on the fiber you can slide your fingers of your right hand back to allow fresh untwisted fiber closer to the spindle. As the yarn twists be sure to leave the end of the fiber loose, so can easily add more fiber to the spindle.

 As the shaft fills with your single ply yarn, you will need to stop take the yarn off the hook and wind the yarn closer to the top of the whorl. Be sure to hold on the fiber you are spinning so the twist doesn’t go into it prematurely.  Leave enough yarn loose to put back around the hook and to wrap back around the spindle to get you started again.

 You can keep spinning in this manner with the spindle until the shaft is almost full. Once the shaft is full you can stop and take the yarn to use. You can either wind it off into a ball or make a small skein.

 Once you have done this you can ply two or more single plys together to make 2 or 3 ply yarn.  When you are plying use the same process, except connect two ends of single ply yarn together on the leader. When you are plying you want to go the opposite direction of the twist so you don’t untwist the yarn.  So plying means you spin the spindle in a counter clockwise manner.

 After you have plied your yarn it is ready to use. You can wind into a ball or use a niddynoddy to make a skein.

 You can also use a spinning wheel to make yarn. There are many shapes, sizes, and types of spinning wheels.  There spinning wheels to spin specific fibers. The type and size of the wheel you need depends on what you want to accomplish with it.

Using a spinning wheel:

There are far to many wheels to give specific instructions for one. So here are tips, hints, and lessons learned that would hopefully make your adventure in spinning enjoyable.

 When you are preparing to start spinning make sure that you have a comfortable chair and plenty of light.

 If you are starting off with a new bobbin you will need to add a leader to it. Most bobbins come with a small leader attached; you can use either handspun or commercial yarn to make your leader. It should be several inches long so that it will pass through the orifice of the wheel and allow you to connect your fiber to the end of it. The leader can be attached as a loop so that you can just open the end and place your fiber in the loop.

 Drafting your fiber before you spin can help a great deal for new spinners. Drafting is simply grasping a section of fiber in both hands, lightly pulling and then moving down the entire section of fiber. Be careful not to pull too hard because you will complete separate the fiber. This separates out the fiber and makes it easier to handle when spinning. Some call this pre-drafting.

 Inchworm is spinning technique that most people use to learn to spin. You choose a hand to hold the fiber in and the other hand will do the drafting (further separating the fibers as you spin).  The hands are usually held closer into the wheel. You pull out some fiber, allow the spin to happen, allow the wheel to take in the spun yarn through the orifice, sliding your hands back along the fiber, and repeat this process. You are moving like an inchworm along your section of fiber.

 Long draw is another technique.  This works really well with commercially prepared and well-carded fiber. With the long draw you hold and draft with one hand held back quite a bit from the wheel, you slide your hand back along the fiber section behind the twist, and then allow the wheel to take in the spun yarn through the orifice.

 Hand spinning is a dance of hand/eye/foot coordination. It is important to try to keep your hands and your feet moving at the same pace. This will help with making your spinning even.

 Don’t give up!  Hand spinning takes practice and sometimes working with several different techniques before something clicks and you get it. Before you now it you will be making nice, smooth, useable yarn.

 Don’t be concerned about slubs. Slubs are thick and thin places in the yarn. You can still use the yarn to make novelty yarn or to make items that don’t need perfect yarn. And besides the yarn is handspun. Slubs make it look handspun.

 Some times you can remove thick places in the yarn by pulling out the excess fibers or you can pinch the yarn and draft it out more.

 Yarn that is under spun will pull apart easily. 

 Yarn that is over spun will twist up on it self.

 If you have singles that are over spun you can ply them in to two ply yarn and that will help remove some of the over twisting.

 If you are plying and once you finish you realize the ply is too loose, you can feed the yarn back through your wheel and allow more twist to take.