Ah! learning! what a joy. I may never stop learning to spin, there's always something new to try. When I was first learning, I dabbled in wool breeds (okay, I'm still dabbling! there are so many!) And dove into silk, cotton, angora, llama -- any and all fibers. Recently, I've been returning to silk. Oh boy, smooth hands are critical for enjoying spinning silk. For me, anyway. I want to return to cotton, as I love to weave with it -- but luckily there's enough 20/2, 5/2, and 6/2 cotton in the stash to see me through quite a few dishtowels and shirts (and maybe skirts -- last summer I really wanted one, but never got a round tuit, grin!)
Do you plan to weave with your handspun? I've put mine as warp and mixed warp with commercial yarns, on my rigid heddle, my table loom, and my Baby Wolf. I have some AVL WDL projects planned with handspun, but for them I want to set up dummy warps -- the thought of throwing that much handspun away as loom waste would reduce me to tears, seriously!
I'm a relatively new spinner ( and even newer at weaving) so I'm sticking to animal fibers (and they to me). I have to do SOMETHING with all this yarn so when I get a storebought warp coordinated with some of my handspun for an appropriate project, I'll definitely weave it. My loom has 4 shafts and about 22" weaving width, so lots of possibilities exist. Right now I'm doing bunches of cotton stuff for my kitchen. This gets me paying attention to beating and selvages, and trying out some of the twill and waffle weave tricks when I get to the towels. But this winter I think some woolens will be on the loom.
About loom waste: I always keep my loom waste as I am planning to weave a longhaired rug, scandinavian style, and for that I will need loads of short ends. That will be a consolation to me, when I start using my handspun for warp. I started spinning last autumn, so I do not have that much handspun yarn ready for weaving.
My loom waste so far has made great cat toys. However, I like the idea of possibly hooking a rug with the handspun.
Take your thrums and use them for pile weaving! Sara Lamb's book.... Woven Treasures....is inspiring!
I am not a spinner, but I want to learn. See, my aunt has a Spinning wheel, a pretty old one(my guess is 100 years) I'd like to use it, maybe get another S Wheel eventually. She'll be giving it to me when she moves which will be a few years from now. I want to learn, which is why I joined :)
Hi, One way to learn how to spin is to get hold of a spindle kit and teach yourself. There are plenty for sale on the internet, Ebay and Etsy, or you could try a vendor like the Bellwether. There are several good Yahoo groups to join where you will get advice, friendship and encouragement!
groups.yahoo.com/group/spindlers/
and
groups.yahoo.com/group/spindlitis/
and when you inherit your wheel, you will find there are other groups equally good for wheel spinners, and where you will meet most of the same people, like me, Aunt Janet, Amelia, to name but three members of this group.
Amelia Garripolli (the Bellwether) has written a very good book for beginning spindlers, and there is another recent book, by Abby Franquemont, that I have heard great things about. Both these ladies are excellent teachers.
You may, depending on where you live, have a local group where you can meet other spindlers and get hold of fibre supplies. Check the Resources tab for the List of Guilds, as many cover both weaving and spinning, and you could well find local teachers and spinners to meet up with, who will not only help you learn to spin, but teach you how to acquire a stash - though since you are a quilter, you probably already know how, hehe!
I have spindles and wheels, and usually spindle. I'm demonstrating this weekend at a craft fair, because I can take my spindle and a fluff of fibre instead of carting a big, unwieldy wheel. I find I'm as prolific on my spindles as I am on a wheel, not that I'm prejudiced!
Welcome to another great creative craft!
Caroline, who cannot live without her spindles.
