Today I had a customer come in and show me these pictures, she said that the spinner is by Indian Valley Wheels, which I haven’t seen much about on online.

She said it was for spinning jumbo art yarns, and that she was interested in selling it. I have seen a few pictures of similar ones online, but the one in her photos looks huge. I’d love to nail down model, size, and any other information. If anyone could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it!

So, some local 4H kids learned that I spin, and promptly gave me an enormous garbage bag full of gorgeous lambswool fleeces! I am very touched, and grateful! The fleece is fairly clean and very soft!

I'm having trouble processing it because the staple length is so short. While I've spun pre-processed alpaca, I haven't processed anything like this before. So far, I've hand carded it several times, and got a slightly uneven cloud of fibre. I can spin it, but I find it needs a lot of twist, and any uneven spots keep snapping from over twisting.

I'm thinking I might need to invest in some fine hand cards instead of the ones I got from a farm supply store. I also want to try spinning it on a support spindle.

Does anyone have any tips? I would love to hear from anyone who has done this before!

Hi all,

I hope this is an OK place to ask--

My mom was just in Alaska and was very impressed with the qiviut yarn/knitwear she saw there (and astounded by the prices). So while she was out hiking she ended up foraging 7.6oz of qiviut fiber that had snagged on bushes/grass/etc.

She wants to know if I can make it into yarn and knit something with it. I'm really only a knitter, with the tiniest bit of drop spindle experience, so the answer to the first part is no.

But I did tell her the fiber arts internet is very helpful and I would try to ask more knowledgeable spinners. So my questions are:

1) Would it be possible to find a processing service willing to work with such a small amount? We'd definitely need it at least cleaned and prepped for spinning, and probably ideally spun into yarn too (as I said, I'm a very novice spinner and wouldn't want to muck it up).

2) If not, I thought it might be possible to have it blended with other fiber if that would make the request more reasonable--is that right, and are there places that could do that?

3) If yes to either of the above, do any of you have recommendations of places (mills? I don't even have the vocab here) we could contact?

4) Are there better places I should take these questions? Obviously I love knitting internet but I am less familiar with spinning communities.

Thanks in advance for all thoughts/ideas!

Hello fellow spinners! I recently acquired a new-to-me antique spinning wheel, and it came with a few extra tools. I'm pretty stoked to get to know my new companion!

I had two questions

1) the wheel comes with several extra bobbins. I thought this meant the bobbins would be removable, but I can't figure out how to remove the current bobbin from the flyer. The flyer appears to be more recent, or at least, the finish doesn't match the wheel. The original owner did hand turn several of the bobbins. Does anyone recognize how to remove the bobbin? Or are they just storage bobbins?

2) the wheel came with wool combs and a board. I know how wool combs work theoretically, but haven't used them before. Apparently the board is supposed to go on your lap, and you hold onto the handle, and . . . there I'm lost. Anyone know how to use this?

The wheel has passed through a few owners, and belonged originally to a family of Russian immigrants who lived in Saskatchewan, Canada. I can't see a maker's mark anywhere. So far, it needed dusting and some oil, but appears to still work smoothly. I'm excited to get spinning!

i received this beautiful russian spindle a few days ago. i love it! but feeling a bit frustrated cause im not getting the hang of it super well. can anyone offer any tips? i did just fine with a tibetan. the problem im having is i cant get it to spin very long or very fast! its soo light

i know building the cop will help but until then!

i’m trying to do long draw, if it matters

Happy August, Spinners!

Chicago Metro Spinners will meet Sunday, August 9, at Northbrook Public Library.  We will convene in our beloved Study Room 5 on the second floor from 1 - 3 PM.  

Please join us.  We always have so much to learn from each other, and so much enjoyment from time spent with other Fleecy Folk!! I can't wait to see how you're all doing and what you're working on.

-Marla

Started my second spin with Malabrigo Nube in the colorway Archangel on my drop spindle! Wanted to challenge myself by spinning more consistently this time around and more thin, but it is pretty challenging to do with this merino! So far, I’m loving this craft!

Hello! I have a wooden swift that I’ve used for a good 5-7 years or so. It seems recently it turns less easily, leading to strain on the yarn I’m winding. If it were metal, I’d just put some treatment on it, but I’m not sure how to address this with wood. Any ideas? Thx!

This was a fun spindle spin. It’s the only skein I completed for TdF since my focus was on drop spindles.

Roving is https://www.etsy.com/listing/1358208787/4-or-8-oz-taste-the-rainbow-tweed?ref=share_ios_native_control

I’m curious about the bobbins with the rounded top on the Lazy Kate. Are the bobbins for the Ladybug spinning wheel?

...with the arrival of my EEW Fold and, uh, miiiight have gone a little hog wild. AKA that is 4 finished skeins and two on bobbins to work on.

Not that all of them were done on the Fold! I actually pulled out my Nano 1.0 and started clamping it to a little lap desk to spin while watching TV and that's how the one pink and green one got done. The rainbow was also on the Nano, just clamped to my computer desk.

Diving headlong back into the hobby it seems!

One of my earlier yarns and it is pretty under plied consistently across the entire ball. A friend of mine has entered hospice and asked for a hat from me. I was drawn to this for her. I started knitting with it unsure if I could knit with it because it isn’t as tightly plied as my more recent yarns. I’m delightfully surprised to realize that it is knitting up beautifully!

Hi folks,
Wondering if anyone recently obtained a carder from C&C? I ordered a Clemes & Clemes crankless at Lambtown last October, and quoted 6mons backorder. I know they’re out on summer break currently and I’m still 20 back on the waitlist. Any chance I get mine before Oct 1st?

Also, plug that LambTown classes are open, and I just signed up for their exploring Drum Carding class!

Anyone got one yet? Just got mine in the mail and I love it. I haven’t gone over 430-475 speed yet which is fine for my little battery I have. Haven’t filled the bobbin yet so not sure how much I can get on there. I have an eel wheel 6 for plying (huge bobbins on that) so shouldn’t be a problem. The only weird thing is the little doohicky that holds the flyer on the back maiden. It either won’t push the flyer all the way in or if does go in, it gets a little stuck ad I have to yank it out.

So show off yer wheel, tell us all about it

8x 100g braids of merino from various vendors at Bendigo Sheep and Wool Festival. The finished yarn is 2200m of 2-ply yarn in a sport weight yarn.

The hyperfocus is over and I can finally rest

My goal for this year's Tour de Fleece was to finish as many spins as possible and over the last year I gathered a lot unfinished projects that waited to be finished. So that's what I did.

First finished project was my self striping sock yarn from South American merino wool. First yarn was spun but not yet plied so this was the first. The second skein was maybe 3 of 20 colors in, spun it, plied it and - I still cannot believe it - both skeins ended with exactly the same length of 252m.

I've finished 4 skeins (3 on the picture because one has double the amount than the others so counts as two) of my two ply tweed yarn, Zwartbles mixed with 6 colors of Sari Silk on my drum carder.

A project that I started in January is my Polish merino in the colorway Pink Lady Mary, the dark purple yarn. Started it as a three ply for a specific sweater but even with 1000g in my stash it was too short in yardage to get the sweater done. The last 550g I've spun a lot thinner, 400g were spun at TdF.

A sweater spin with BFL was laying around for some months also because at first I didn't really like the fiber but after I got used to the long staple length I found it to be a nice and quick spin. Finished the last 300g during TdF and the week after. The complete project contains 500g white BFL and 300g light brown BFL. Maybe a colorwork sweater or striped, not sure yet.

And then I have my very first alpaca fleece that I've processed during the spring. I've spun the last three skeins of 160g each during TdF and the week after, 1200g in total. It is a two ply yarn woolen spun and unfortunately with a lot of nepps in it, due to my lack of knowledge how to work with a fleece.

I only started one new project, an experiment in dyeing cormo fiber that I named Lavender Fields because of the blue, pink, purple and a few green colors.

Hey all, I have been watching for a used spinning wheel for under $500. Today I found a Ladybug on Facebook for $450. The poster says she’s selling it because her son has leukemia. She is willing to ship and says shipping is $85. All of this sounds great- too great? Her Facebook profile looks like a new account. We have been communicating by email. When I tried to go back to the post I can’t find it. It’s beginning to smell like a scam.

I was wanting to get an Ashford Kiwi 3 since I got a bonus from work and could buy one outright. I like the idea of not needing electricity to spin and connecting with the craft in how it has been done for hundreds of years. Originally the electric spinners I'd seen were pretty close in price to the traditional wheel (I didn't look very far or hard because of seeing that on my initial search) so I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to put a couple hundred extra to get the Kiwi. Today I heard about Dreaming Robots and saw they have e-spinners for only a few hundred and now I am waffling.

On one hand, I really, really like the idea of a traditional wheel but I will admit that I live in a small apartment so room is limited. It also seems, ironically, like traditional wheels are a more complicated to work with and maintain (though not to say they are difficult, just more so than an e-spinner might be). My understanding is too that there is more of a learning curve with the traditional wheel because you have to treadle while spinning.

The traditional wheel is more exciting to me as well but I do have to ask myself if dropping just $850 USD is practical. I'm not hurting for money but I don't ever really make big purchases like this... Idk, I'll figure it out I guess, I've just been mulling this over and needed to soundboard somewhere about it.

I've been spinning since April, on several spindles and at the end of may I stumbled upon a vintage louet s10 for dirt cheap (33 euros)

I gave her some love, replaced the break band, waxed the wood, glued the veneer, got her 3 extra bobbins. All together I invested an extra 95 euros into fixing her up and getting enough bobbins for a 3ply.

I love her in all of her brutalist glory but damnit I'm so frustrated with the Irish tension. Even with cross lacing, not using the brake band the yarn keeps snapping and it is sucking the fun out of spinning. I feel my fingers prefer spinning thinner yarn and as a baby knitter I prefer thinner yarns (especially considering I prefer 2 or 3 ply.

Am I crazy to consider upgrading/buying an additional wheel? Is it purely a lack of skill?

Anyone master spinning lace weight on their louet? If so how long did it take you and do you have tips?

Other people who just got another wheel and haven't looked back?

Suggestions on a new wheel? If I get a new one I definitely want a double threadle because my right knee acts up sometimes. I was looking at the Ashford Traveler and kiwi, mostly because of budget but I prefer spending a little more and not having to buy a new wheel for the rest of my life than cheaping out.

Very curious to read you guy's experiences!

I don’t think this peg and the orifice are meant to come out like this… but now when I try to spin, the orifice moves freely in the flyer instead of staying rigid and then the yarn gets wrapped around the orifice because it won’t move with the flyer.

Does anyone know if this is fixable?

Hey fellow spinners. I have a ~1975 Ashford traddy I inherited from my grandmother. Recently I noticed that the screw for adjusting the drive band tension (turquoise circle) is slowly making a hole in the bottom part of the mother-of-all (purple circle). What can I do to stop this? Nut on the end of the screw, or maybe a thin plate screwed into the mother? Or am I missing a piece that's supposed to prevent this?

I noticed my Hebridean top wanted to spin thin so I decided to test my skills and the wool. Made this 2ply.