So I've been spinning on a spindle for a while now (6-8 months) on and off, as much as I can afford roving. (working on preping raw wool, but thats somehting else.) anyways, I've gotten pretty good, my threads are mostly pretty even, and fairly fine. I'm spinning on a top whorl wood spindle, I think its about 1.5 ounces? maybe its two. mostly, I'm using blue leicesteir mostly, though I was using corridale. I'm having a wonderful time, but I have this one problem. Even spinning a very fine yarn, I find that I can't spin a yarn or thread of any great length. I double-ply, but I can't make my singles much longer either, usually, I only lose about a yard or less at the end of plying. The longest yarn I've spun so far is about 23 yards. Its between 1/16th and 1/8th of an inch thick. By the time I get to between 15 and 20 yards single, or double, the spindle is wobbling all over the place, and its full. I can barely find a bare place to use to continue it spinning.
Is my spindle just too small? I like spinning this light weight yarn, I don't want a much heavier spindle, though I'd also like to spin some thicker woolens. its about 7 inches long from the bottom of the whorl to the bottom, and the whorl is about two inches or so in diameter. I see people who've spun over 100 yards on their spindles, which blows my mind. Do have any suggustions for how to spin longer yarns/threads? Is there a way to connect them without knotting them in an ukky mess? I've been thinking about selling them on etsy, if I could only get this length issue fixed. Plus, it would be way better for my weaving that way. Thanks a million,
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