Abby's Yarns! | Getting Started!

At this time of year, we seem to always have a huge crop of new spinners and would-be spinners looking for information about getting started. So I thought I'd take a morning and pull together an overall post linking to things I've written on the subject and various other resources too. What's more, I've been spending part of my holiday fixing and updating old posts with current information, so you may find a few new things.

Bear in mind this is a list of information and resources for those who are brand new to spinning; I've tried to keep from going too far into the more intermediate or potentially esoteric stuff that could be confusing for a beginner. We've got plenty of space for that under a heading other than "Getting Started."

1. What do I need to get started spinning?

I wrote a whole post about that entitled
What do I need to get started spinning? -- start there! You can do it with as little as $5-10.

2. What kind of fiber should I get?

Here are a few suggestions. If you're wondering what some of the terms mean, here's an explanation, complete with handy pictures. You'll need to register for a free account with Spin-Off and download the PDF, but it's worth it -- there are all kinds of great resources there.

3. Are there any books or magazines you recommend?

Interweave Press' Spin-Off Magazine is a must. Start here and click every link there. I'm totally serious. Click them all. Under "Projects and Articles," you can get to a wealth of online content -- every issue has a few articles that are published online as well as in print. Those are here.There are also forums there where you can interact with other readers and the publishers.

Some excellent books:

Start Spinning by Maggie Casey. Maggie is the owner of Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, and a spinning teacher par excellence.

Spin Control by Amy King picks up where Maggie's book leaves off, and teaches you how to take control of your yarn.

Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Judith is a major rock star of the spinning world, and deservedly so.

Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts is the canonical book about spinning with a high whorl spindle, and an excellent resource.

Spin It by Lee Raven. An excellent book for the new spinner.

Hands On Spinning by Lee Raven.

Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey. A great easy introduction to spinning for straightforward knitting projects.

Twisted Sister's Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel. Aimed at avid sock knitters, there's plenty of spinning and dyeing info in here too.

Spinner's Companion by Bobbie Irwin. A great all-around book.

The Intentional Spinner by Judith MacKenzie McCuin is not a total novice's book, but is a wealth of information.

Respect The Spindle is my own humble offering in the field, dealing with spindle spinning topics from beginner to advanced.

The All New Homespun, Handknit features projects to spin and knit for every level of spinner and knitter.

Some DVDs:

Start Spinning, The DVD from Maggie Casey is the perfect 2-disc companion to her book.

Drafting: The Long and Short Of It, my first instructional DVD, is a more intermediate DVD that goes into lots of detail about various fiber options, multiple ways to spin your yarn, and how to fine-tune what you're doing to get exactly the results you want.

4. What about web sites and mailing lists?

There are tons! For a really long list, make sure you check out Interweave's list of spinning links, which should be enough to keep you distracted and websurfing for days or weeks. Or even longer. I'm going to pick out a handful of online resources I recommend highly for new spinners, though.

One thing to bear in mind as you delve into the world wide web of spinny stuff is that as with anything online, there are good sources of information, and less good sources. It can be hard to know which is which. And whereas formal publication usually ends up being something done by people with a ton of experience in a given subject, casual publication like having a web site is something anybody can do. That doesn't mean casual publications are bad -- far from it! But it does mean, as a reader, that it pays off to spend a little time figuring out who's giving you information, and what that person's perspective is.

For example, my perspective is that of a spinning teacher and writer about spinning, who's been at it for over 30 years in a variety of contexts. I will obviously see things differently from someone who started spinning a couple of months ago. Does that mean you should only read one of us? Absolutely not; but it's worth thinking about the differences in perspective or experience, as you read things. Consider: my experience trying a brand-new prototype spinning wheel is probably not going to be the same as a brand-new spinner's. Which perspective you're after is up to you. You may be looking for instruction (in which case I'd recommend seeing what an experienced teacher has to say), or you may be looking for a peer group as you start out on your spinning journey (in which case, you'll probably be most interested in meeting fellow new spinners). One of the fabulous things about the online spinning world is that you can have all of those things.

WEB PUBLICATIONS

Spindlicity is an online magazine for spinners, with lots of terrific how-to information, and more.
KnittySpin is the spinning focused section of web pioneer Knitty.

MAILING LISTS

Yahoo! features a number of great lists dealing with spinning.

WEB COMMUNITIES

KnittyBoard features various spinning forums with great participants!
Knitter's Review Forums: Spinner Central has been around a long time and is a wonderful community
Handspinning on Livejournal
Ravelry features lots of groups: Spinner Central, Spin Love, Beginning Spinners, and Spindlers are probably your best bets for starting out.

FAVOURITE INSTRUCTIONAL BLOGS:

Spinning Spider Jenny Jenny Bakriges is a fabulous spinning teacher with a terrific instructional blog. Go, check her out, take her classes, await her forthcoming book just like the rest of us.
Ask The BellwetherAmelia is a wonder, and her blog is structured in a fabulous Q&A format and she's an incredible wellspring of information.

I recommend reading ALL the blogs I read, but if you're a new spinner looking for information, don't miss Jenny and Amelia. I read hundreds of blogs and they are all fabulous, and they're all linked at right.

Just for kicks, if you're looking for some top picks from my own archives, read this 100th post..

5. Can you recommend any good videos on the web?

Well, I've got a few aimed at the complete spinning novice, even starting on a budget:

Although they aren't used much, YouTube has groups! We have one for handspinning:

YouTube Handspinning Group

There's a broad range of videos there already, and more being added all the time. These are added and vetted by experienced spinners and spinning teachers, and videos that aren't solid information don't make the cut for this group.

As with web sites, videos on YouTube vary wildly in terms of the quality of information they contain. There are some reasonably well-produced videos that contain horrible misinformation. Wherever possible, try to take a minute and figure out where the video came from -- someone who spends a lot of time spinning, or someone who started a week or two ago? The more folks sharing what they do, the better -- but be wary of authoritative pronouncements from people who haven't been spinning any longer than you have! In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say that most people making really authoritative, "This is how you do it" pronouncements, instead of saying "Here's one way to do this," are relative novices.

Why do I think this matters with videos? Because ideally, I think you should be looking at good spinning practice, or good form, if you're looking for something to emulate and practice. If this was dancing or gymnastics, I would be saying you're better off watching someone who's been dancing for years than someone who just started and has never been to a class or performed or anything.

In addition to YouTube, I recommend ispindle.com, courtesy of the folks behind the Spindlers yahoo group.

6. What are some great places to shop for spinning equipment and supplies?

Well, here are a few of my longstanding favourites. These are people who I can call up and say "Hey, do you have... or can you get... and is there anything like..." and who I trust with every fiber of my being (har har). These are the kinds of folks who you can go to with a dilemma and they'll solve it. They're the ones you can trust if you can't make up your mind. These people are pillars of the larger fiber community. These are the people my family calls up to figure out what I should get for Christmas.

Carolina Homespun was my local shop when I lived in the SF Bay Area. If you are in that area, run, don't walk, and then camp out and wait for Morgaine and Lann to let you in, if that's what it takes. Make sure you visit them at every fiber show where you see them.
The Fold, better known as "Toni." Not only does Toni Neil have an incredible full-service fiber shop -- at least, I assume she does although I've never actually been to her shop, only her booth at various events, and dealt with her lots on the phone and in email -- but she's someone who Makes Stuff Happen. Like, she talked Jonathan Bosworth into making spindles. That kind of thing. I can't say enough to praise Toni. I just can't. She's too fabulous.
The Spinning Loft is now my local fiber shop. Okay, it's the entire length of my state and part of another away, in Howell, Michigan (near Ann Arbor), but Beth Smith is my go-to gal. She is one of the very few people -- heck, she might be the ONLY person -- who I trust to the point that if she says I don't want to buy something I am positive I want, I just say "Okay, what do I want instead then?" and then go that route. Know why? Because she is always right, and down the road, the times I haven't gone with her advice, I've wished I had.
The Bellwether is my friend Amelia, who very very often has that thing I'm looking for that nobody else has. I don't know how she does it. She has stuff that nobody else does. And if I think something might be a good idea to do, she's usually already done it and has advice about it, and she'll share it honestly and courteously and caringly.
The Spunky Eclectic is run by my longtime friend Amy King, author of Spin Control. I'll put it this way: I call Amy up when I need a treat for myself, and can't figure out what it should be. I place standing orders with her, and when there's a new product on the market, she'll know about it, have tried it, and have the scoop. And she can Get Things Done. When I have a task I know I can't get to in time, I can count on Amy to do it to my standards and beyond.
Village Spinning & Weaving is a fabulous shop in California, and another absolute don't miss at any fiber event where they've got a booth.

If you've talked to that list of people, and they can't find what you're looking for? Then you can't have it; it either doesn't exist, is a treasure of rarity beyond compare and you have to hope someone's leaving it for you in their will, or is backordered for however long they said. Seriously, if that list of people can't make it happen for you fiberwise, nobody can. These are the folks you can call up in total chaos, confusion, despair, whatever -- and they solve it, and give you a good deal besides.

7. Any other thoughts for a new spinner?

Just that, if there is any way at all for you to swing it, go meet other spinners. Take classes if you can, but even if you can't or don't want to, just meet other spinners. There are things about this that can't be learned from books, videos, and so on. There are things that must be passed from one hand to another. You will get things out of a few minutes spent with other spinners that you can't get out of years of spinning alone, even with the greatest references in the world.

Oh, and one more thing: this. Consider it a yarn manifesto, and enjoy.

That's it! Please feel free to share your thoughts about being a new spinner, and any questions you might have, in the comments.