Spinning a Yarn

I taught myself to spin when I was about 13 years old, using a spindle I made with a discarded CD and a pencil, and polyester stuffing for the fiber. My yarn was lumpy and bumpy. I learned to knit around the same time, and focused on that for several years, but when my mom gave me a beautiful wooden drop spindle and 8 ounces of sheep’s wool, I took up spinning again. My yarn was still pretty lumpy, and I dropped my spindle so often that my housemates at the time threatened to banish me to the porch until I got the hang of it. A word to the wise: Practice over carpet first. Your spindle — and your household — will thank you.

With about 10 years of experience behind me, I can now spin lace weight yarn while I walk, talk, and read. Spinning is a physical skill that gets easier the more you practice it, so don’t get discouraged if your first results aren’t quite what you want; your hands need time to learn what they’re doing.

Tools of the Trade

Before you spring for a spinning wheel — which can easily cost several hundred dollars — look for a drop spindle (or “suspended spindle”). They’re generally inexpensive (you can find a good-quality spindle for about $10), portable, and sturdy. The most common type of spindle you’ll encounter has a whorl, which is a weighted disk, with a shaft