I'm interested in getting into spinning, and I'd like to start with drop spinning.

What kind of fiber should I be looking for to try this with?

Well I have never tried drop spinning, but if you go to joyofspinning.com there is a video of somebody drop spinning and they just seem to use clean prepared fleece of good length, or tops or carded rolags. I imagine it would only be tricky when learning if the staple was too short or the fleece matted. does that help?

Thanks, Sara, that does help. I'll start looking for a good fleece.

sara gave you some good advice. I just started recently and made kneehighs out of Romney Lincoln cross rolags. I also used Welsley, I believe it was called. I was advised not to go into Merlino until more experienced because of the length. Also not to do slippery fibers yet such as Alpaca, or silk or to do Mohair. Later. It was pretty easy to make good plyed wool to knit. I found sites online about plying wool and spinning instructions and made my own CD drop spindle. I used it at the top of the dowel. Each hand seems to be a learning process. I learned how to spin easily, the drafting on my left hand was tricky. I found I was clenching it and was told to hold it like a bird to let the fibers draft out. Also you need to see the length of the fibers pulled out before you begin spinning something so you get a feel for how far apart your hands will be to not get too much or too little fibers going and not to be stopping your own drafting by pinching the fibers while they try to slide by each other. Also I learned that you have to counterspin your spindle hand thumb and first finger to open up the fibers you are drafting if they start to bind up before they are the right thickness. Then you can thin them out by pulling away the distaff, or other hand. Hope this helps a little. I was fortunate enough to go to a Spin-In to learn how to spin and a very kind person helped me get started.

All this discussion on drop spindles almost makes me want to try it. I imagined it to be really slow compared with using a wheel, ...however it would be portable. Alas, I have too many ideas to complete, I need a bit of speed.
And what is welsley fleece like? I haven't heard of it?
.. sara

Thanks, Andy! That really helped to give me an idea of what type of fiber to start looking for.