Wheel or Handspun?

[ladywyntir]

For the spinners out there.. a few questions:

1. Do you spin using a spinning wheel, a skein winder, or do you spin by hand?

2. If you spin using a wheel, did you have to make a large investment, or is there a place you can get a discounted wheel?

I ask because my sister is interested in spinning her own thread and yarn and offered to give me the yarn she spins! :woohoo

Hee hee but really, she is really excited about the project so i wanted to get her on the way to spinning.

[SamplerLady]

1. Do you spin using a spinning wheel, a skein winder, or do you spin by hand? I use a spinning wheel for my best yarn. I'm not sure what you mean about spinning with a skein winder (a swift?) or by hand (rolling in the fingers or using a spindle?)? :))

2. If you spin using a wheel, did you have to make a large investment, or is there a place you can get a discounted wheel? Investment "size" is relative. I paid full price for my brand new Louet S15. However a used wheel from a reputable source is a good investment, too. There are lots of wheels on ebay, but sight unseen, and if you don't know what your're looking for. Best bet is to find different wheels and try them out. My girlfriend bought an Ashford for more than I paid for my Louet. She loves it and I can't use it as it's too big. So personal preference is important. :))

[ladywyntir]

thank you for your reply.

I'm not exactly sure what of another name of the "yarn-winder" may be... that's what they refer to it in my book: The Book of Crochet From Beginner to Expert: The Best Crochet Book for You - by Marinella Nava

Here is a photo of what i'm talking about... but i think that's just to get it into a ball... not to spin the fibers into the yarn :oops

Yarn-Winder (http://www.karpstyles.com/catalog.html?category=Yarn%20Winder)

I've also heard of people spinning by hand.. it's VERY slow and out of date now.. but i'm sure some people still do it somewhere... hee hee

A brief history (http://www.vreseis.com/) - just check out the "A brief history" section.

[SamplerLady]

I've also heard of people spinning by hand.. it's VERY slow and out of date now.. but i'm sure some people still do it somewhere... hee hee In this case she is referring to people who use a spindle or a spinning wheel. It refers to spinning not done by automated machines but done by human power. So yes, we still do handspinning. It's not all that slow and certainly not out of date. It, like knitting, crocheting, tatting, is a needlework skill that is being kept alive by lots of crafts people not to mention people in Third World countries who make their bread and butter from it. Ghandi spun cotton on a small spinning wheel and encouraged all of India to do it. :))

Here is a photo of what i'm talking about... but i think that's just to get it into a ball... not to spin the fibers into the yarn Yes, that's a yarn baller and a good investment for anyone that uses yarn especially those that buy yarn in hanks. With it one can make one's own center pull balls. :))

[ladywyntir]

ah.. then thank you!

I was aware of Ghandi and his spinning wheel... was going to purchase one of the replicas for my sis, but decided to research first.

so they always use a wheel... okay, they made it sound like it was all done by hand (remembering back to the reading rainbow days when they showed you how they sheered the sheep and then spun it to yarn ^_^).

thank you for your help. i think it's great that we keep up the traditions that have been around long before we were. :)

[juliusdbunny]

Hello!
Gracious, you have a nice sister, that she wants to spin for you! How lucky you are! I am a spinner and I use a variety of methodes to do so, maybe I can help clarify your questions?

Everything that is spun using hand manipulation is hand spinning. That means not by a machine. There are several tools for handspinning that all do more or less the same thing, but they all serve their own purpose. There are handspindles, which come in a variety of forms, my preferance is for a Top Whorl. Its the easiest spindle for a beginer in my opinion, bottom whorl spindles are a little tougher to get the hang of. Drop spindles come in a huge range of prices, but you can get a basic one for less then $20, and thats where I would start anybody off who wanted to do any kind of spinning.

Spinning wheels are generally more expensive, there are a varity of them as well, some easier some more difficult. Mine is a MajaCraft Suzie, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE her. After trying as many of them as I could find, she was my favorite. Always try to find a variety of wheels to demo before investing.

Then there is that Ghandi thing. Its called a Charka wich means Wheel, its a usefull and very old tool. It was updated in the 40's to come in a 'book' form which is very portable. The Charka works with the same technology as a drop spindle or a support spindle (the key here is spindle, where the wheels we see today use bobbins instead of spindle). The 'Great' or 'Walking' Wheels of European Origin are also the same technology (think Sleeping Beauty). These are lots of fun but I would discourage a beginer from starting here as it takes a LOT of patience. Of course the determined shouldn't have a problem.