BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning Beginning to Spin

Do you have any recommendations to help get me started before my lesson on Saturday? Does just setting up and practicing pedaling help?

Hi Angie,
Yes, it does. Try keeping the drive wheel turning in one direction, preferably clockwise to start. Then reverse it and try to keep it going counterclockwise. Try treadling as slowly as possible - to the point where you can keep it going smoothly while treadling slowly. You can also practice "drafting" with some commercially spun yarn - just use some inexpensive acrylic for this. Thread the wheel, tie the yarn onto the leader, treadle clockwise and get a feel for how it pulls onto the bobbin. Not that most commercial acrylic yarns are plied so what will happen is that it will first UNSPIN before it starts spinning up again. This is the twist changing direction and is to be expected with this exercise. Because it untwists before it twists, it give you more time to get your hands working and it will not fall apart in the process.

I took a whack at the lesson. I set up the wheel after your note and tried treadling. I must hiccup because midstream it seems that the wheel begins going counter clockwise. The instructor gave me a lesson explaining the different wheels - I am using a production wheel with two pedals; hers was a single pedal; the historic one in the museum is, well, historic. Our instructor has been spinning for 18 years and her yarn was perfect. She made it look so easy and it probably is once you get the hang of it.

The single pedal was easier to use. After the lesson and later when I had a chance to set it up again, I did manage to get the feel of the twist but I'm still having problems getting it to feed onto the spool. She used a longer haired wool than what I had. She said mine was the second shearing of the sheep and about 2 inches long. She suggested I get roving. I'll try your suggestion tonight and see if I can get the hang of this.

My terminology may not be right at all.

2" long is too short unless you are spinning with a woolen draft. Since beginners are normally taught to spin using a worsted draft, you really need longer staple wool.

Getting the yarn to feed onto the bobbin can be tricky at first. You need to learn to adjust the take up tension on your wheel - if it's not drawing on, then add a bit of tension; if it's pulling on too strongly, let the tension off a bit. Also, a wool fiber could be catching on a flyer hook and holding it back from winding on, or a maiden could be out of alignment. Tension should be set so the yarn winds on but still be pulled back off through the orifice.

I'll practice again tonight.

What is a maiden?

The maidens are the 2 upright posts (or bits of wood) that hold the bobbin & flyer unit.

Dear Lyn, Your advice to Angie is very enlightening. When I took a class some years back the teacher actually had used a wool/cotton mix to teach us to spin. That is me, the others had brought their own wool. I didn't know till after the class that, that was the reason I had such a hard time. I haven't had my hands on a wheel since but I still have the desire. The bits of information about the wheel sounds intimidating but, I tell myself, when your'e starting to learn anything new, the unknown can be unnerving but once you get the hang of it, it will become second nature. I'm planning to take a spinning class with a spindle in the spring. Then hopefully advance to a wheel.

Read your review on the book "The Intentional Spinner". It sounds like something every beginner should have. Know I'm going to try to get a copy.

Thanks so much for being here to help all of us.

Hi MsMae,

You are correct - there is a learning curve for every new activity we take on and spinning is no different I had a very hard time learning to use a wheel because I'm not a very coordinated person and had a terrible time getting everything to work together.

Judith McKenzie-Mc Cuin's first book "Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning" is a better book for a beginning spinner as it focuses on using a spindle and wheel, adjusting your wheel, and actually learning how to spin yarns. "The Intentional Spinner" doesn't cover the very basics of spinning but adds much to the basics to enable the spinner to have fine control over the yarns produced. I highly recommend both books.

Wool/cotton blend? Not good for learning to spin! I'm surprised that the teacher did not have some good fiber available for beginning spinners to use. Romney wool is very good for learning to spin.