Abby's Yarns! | Posts tagged with "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.

From time to time, the question arises: Why are there so many heavy spindles marketed as being "Great for beginners!" and so on? We're talking about spindles weighing 3-5 ounces (85-140 grams), with big fat dowels for shafts, and generally low whorl. "Would you ever use this thing?" people ask. "Could you?"

Well, sure.

That was a great spindle, and I used it all the time. Its primary purpose was plying, but I spun on it too. I used pretty much no other spindle between the ages of 7 and 10 (I'm 8 in that photo). During that time, I mainly spun weaving yarn -- fine, high twist weaving yarn. I've no clue what it weighed, but it was probably right in that 100 grams-ish range.

Let me tell you, that spindle was indestructible. It was exactly the kind of thing you'd give to a kid who's constantly on the go. That spindle knocked around in bags, got crammed into backpacks, dropped from extreme heights (you know, doing stupid yarn tricks), tossed around like crazy, used to thwack sheep, jabbed into the ground, used to pry rocks out of dried mud or dig up a pot shard that looked interesting, used to doodle in the dirt, sift through smoking hot dirtclods to stab a potato baked in a dirt clod oven, oh, I'm sure the list goes on. If you can think of a potential use for a stick, that spindle probably did it. And still got used to spin yarn.

In the USA at that time -- let's say the late 70s and early 80s -- spinning yarn was a fairly fringe activity, engaged in by a very small number of people, most of whom either had some fiber animals and were living a farm-type lifestyle, and a few of whom had some sort of academic interest in the pursuit. Knitters were in the closet in those days, crocheters were all about the granny square afghan from Red Heart, and weavers occasionally spun, but mostly didn't. If you wanted a spinning wheel, and you found one, it was an antique, or it was most likely a kit-type wheel from Ashford or Louet. As for spinning fiber, well, it came from someone you knew with a fiber animal.

Think about it. There was no Spin-Off; if you were lucky you could find books by Mabel Ross, Allen Fannin, and Peter Teal, and if you were lucky they were about objects you could find, but they generally really didn't touch on spindles at all. Sometimes you might see a spindle demonstration, but rarely were there classes. I think there were literally four or five dudes who made spinning wheels. You'd hear that in Europe, you could buy fiber and equipment. And all in all, spindles were an afterthought, a curiosity, something that you might use to get started, maybe. If you were getting started at all, in a pursuit that had so few people doing it. I mean, there are probably more people who build fully functioning 1/18 scale gasoline engines, hand-machining their parts, than there were spinners in the USA at that time (and I've seen one of these engines at a car show one time, and it blew my mind, but my google-fu fails me. Which clearly points out how few of these hobbyists there are... which is my point). Seriously, nobody spun; and if they did, they didn't do it with spindles, by and large.

But anyway, without a doubt, most of the 2 dozen or so spindle spinners in the US at that time spun -- and taught -- with large, heavy, low whorl spindles. There are lots of reasons for this; and first of all, I'm going to send you off on a jaunt over to Jenny's blog, to read her Ode to a Low Whorl, which eloquently covers many of the fabulous things low whorl spindles offer. Without reiterating too much of what Jenny says, all of which I totally agree with, I'll present a quick list of benefits of the low whorl:

1. Stability. With the weight at the bottom, low whorl spindles are less vulnerable to interrupted spin than top whorls. A low whorl, if it wobbles, generally keeps spinning; a top whorl with a wobble is more likely to stop sooner or feel really jerky.

2. Sustain. Low whorls are more prone to spin for a long time than high whorls.

3. Slop tolerance. Because of 1 and 2, it's easier to build yourself a low whorl spindle that will get the job done, than a top whorl. I know I'm not alone in having stabbed a potato with a stick and used it to spin. That works with a low whorl; it doesn't work so well with a high whorl.

So if you're building your own spindle -- as you would have been before the ready availability of fabulous tools we have nowadays -- you're going to have better luck with a low whorl. It's also easier to make a low whorl that doesn't need any other hardware (like a hook) than a top whorl with no additional hardware required.

So what about weight? Well, here's another interesting thing. What most of the folks who taught anybody to spin with spindles were running into as a huge problem back in ancient history like the 1980s was that spindles would backspin in nothing flat, students wouldn't catch it, drafting on the fly was giving folks problems, and so anything with more momentum was a help. People weren't really teaching park and draft then so much. So you needed a spindle that would keep going even if you were spinning chunky thick and thin beginner yarn -- and that's a heavier spindle.

Fast forward a little bit, and there started to be some great information about spinning, much more readily available, and more tools, and a wider range. I personally think Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' High Whorling is an exceptional book about spindle spinning, filled with technique and real useable how-to info; the new edition is called Spinning the Old Way. It's an excellent book, and really makes spindle-spinning accessible... but it focuses on high whorl spindles! Sometime in the past 10-15 years, we've started to see tremendous improvement in the availability of information about how to spin with spindles... but most of it has just not talked about low whorls at all.

What's more, in that same span of time, suddenly we started being able to get a wide range of fabulous fibers, prepped, dyed, totally ready to spin (again, not something we had back in ancient history like the 70s and 80s). The world of the beginning spinner, and beginning spindle spinner, and heck, spindle spinner or spinner at large, has really changed. What's available, where, and at what price... much of this is a matter of fashion in the spinning world as it is elsewhere.

So, would I say the heavy low whorl spindle is still the ideal place to start? Well... yes and no. It depends. In a perfect world, you'll start with some loving handspinner shoving tools and fiber into your hands, demonstrating, taking you shopping, and shepherding you on your way. In an almost-perfect world, you'll start with something that just speaks to you and makes you want to use it, want to fiddle with it, want to play around. But in reality, you're probably going to start with whatever it is you first get your hands on. Admit it. We both know it, and it's okay.

If, then, you find yourself with a heavy low whorl drop spindle in your hands, and folks are telling you it'll never work, don't despair! It can; and the truth is, chances are you're going to feel clumsy and awkward no matter what kind of spindle you have in hand. But down the road, you'll find yourself acquiring more skill, and as you do, you'll start to develop your own tastes and preferences. As you spin, too, these will evolve and shift. Eventually a time will come when you likely have a collection of spindles in varying weights and configurations, and you'll have different feelings about them, and choose from them at will. It's sort of like having kitchen knives. Do you need a cleaver? Maybe. What about a filet knife? Depends. But I think you need a chef's knife, a paring knife, carving knife, and a bread knife at a minimum... and learning to use those tools effectively involves different things for each one. So it is for spindles.

What do I start people off with? Honestly, I give 'em fairly heavy, somewhat imperfect low whorl spindles with lgreat durability, explain what makes the spindle work, and tell 'em where to find materials to make variations, and point 'em to local fiber shops or festivals to shop for more, of various kinds... which these days tends to mean "high whorls." I don't worry about people finding good info about high whorl spinning, or finding great high whorl spindles; but decent (or any) low whorls and good low whorl technique are harder to come by, so I like to make sure those are things I provide, in addition to the in-vogue high whorl stuff.

So summing up, don't discard that boat anchor! You may find you really like it down the road. Seriously. I'm not making this up.

Oh... and lest you thought I'd forgotten about the sock yarn series, I have not! Colour is coming up, but I'm waiting on some skeins to dry so I can swatch them and take pictures. Bright, colourful pictures. Why? Because it's March, by gum, and we could all use a little colour. With or without a U. Hi, Sara.

For those of you coming to Beth's place in Michigan later this month, I'll be bringing the upcoming sock yarns, along with fiber for them, and you'll learn how to reproduce them (among other things).

One last piece of news to report, also: I'm delighted to tell you I've been selected as a mentor for Interweave's 2008 Spin-Off Autumn Retreat! I absolutely can't wait (but yeah, I know, I have to). It promises to be loads of fun and I'm hoping to see lots of you there. I'll be teaching a 3-day workshop called Spinning For A Purpose, and four half-day retreat sessions on maximizing spindle productivity. I feel deeply honored to be included in the lineup this year -- what a lineup it is! It's hard to believe it's barely March and I'm already looking forward to fall.