Theres no hook on this spindle!

[shelain22]

I dont know what Im doing and I wont pretend that I do but I got my angora bunny today and the lady I got her from was nice enugh to give me an ashford drop spindle. I looked online for instructions and They all have hooks on them. I looked for a hole where one may have been couse she said that it was about 15 years old but there isent even a hole for one. It looks like this
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/storefront/en-us/dept_40.html
Can anyone help me and recomend some links where I can figure out how to use the darned thing.

[HollyM]

Is there a notch on the shaft? Some spindles will have a notch to hook the yarn into instead of an actual hook.

Have you been to Joy of Handspinning (http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/index.html) yet?

Edit to say ::::duh::::: of course you have, that's what you linked in your post :blush

Holly

[superfurry]

a very kind acquaintance sent me 2 spindles yesterday. i was a bit dismayed to see they had no hook, just notches. you need to half hitch the leader around it like in this video:

icanspin.com (http://www.icanspin.com/halfhitch.htm)

it can be a bit tricky to get it to stay put, i've had the spindle go flying off many times. one of my spindles has a bigger notch than the other and the bigger one is definitely easier to keep in place. but if you're going to cut a notch into it you may as well put a hook into the end if you'd prefer that.

i think with a little practice it would be easy enough to get the hitch to stay put without a notch and it means you can slip the yarn off really quickly when you're winding on so i can see why someone who knows what they're doing might prefer it. but i think it just adds an extra hurdle for a beginner.

hth :)

[shelain22]

Nope, no notch, smoothe as a babies butt! speaking af babies butt, I'm only up cause its its feeding time for little Anna, will write more and share pics later. Thanks for the help!

[carrieanne]

No idea about the spindle, but Congrats on the bunny! What color is it? They are such cute rabbits!

[threeolivemartini]

well if you want a hook take a very small drill bit and drill a guide hole and then screw in a very small cup hook..

[xantha]

If you do add a hook, be sure to center it otherwise your spindle won't spin straight. :)

That said, even without a notch you can use the half-hitch method (http://www.icanspin.com/halfhitch.htm) that superfurry already linked to. :)

Good luck and have fun!

[shelain22]

No idea about the spindle, but Congrats on the bunny! What color is it? They are such cute rabbits!

Sable has a black face an ears and a charcoal gray body and the bottom of her feet are a pearl gray. She has a "lazy ear" and that is not ideal for an angora but I actually hope it stays that way, it gives her cheractor! I will be posting pics of her later when I get batteries for the camera....