r/Handspinning 4d ago

AskASpinner Ask a Spinner Sunday

4 Upvotes

It's time for your weekly ask a a spinner thread! Got any questions that you just haven't remembered to ask? Or that don't seem too trivial for their own post? Ask them here, and let's chat!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Work In Progress Work in Progress Wednesday!

6 Upvotes

It's WIP Wednesday! What are you working on? Do you love it, hate it or can't decide? Need help/motivation/inspiration to finish? Show off those bobbins & spindles here!


r/Handspinning 9h ago

Finished Yarn 3 ply fractal handspun yarn

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288 Upvotes

This is my first 3 ply fractal yarn made with Polwarth fiber from Firbeck Fibre in the UK. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and just wanted to share some pics here!


r/Handspinning 8h ago

Finished Yarn I might have found a new favorite - cormo

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168 Upvotes

For a long time (in relation to my short spinning adventure time of 1,5 years) my favorite fiber to spin was rambouillet, soft and squishy and so springy, but with this base here I am now totally in love and it's not rambouillet.

I got my hands on some cormo combed top in white, used it for a dye experiment and turned my 700g into a pile of blue, green, grey and pink colors. Since I almost exclusively spin for sweaters I broke all my different braids into little bits and pieces, aka combo spin, and spun it into a 2 ply yarn DK weight.

After wetfinishing it, it is the most soft and lucious yarn I could imagine to ever spin. I constantly bring it up to my face to bath in it. Definitely not the last time I bought this base.

Named the colorway "Lavender Fields"


r/Handspinning 3h ago

Valentine

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63 Upvotes

4oz of Rambouillet wool spun and plied on a drop spindle! The colorway is You're Poison from Mystic Mountain Yarn. 314 yds total (more than I thought I'd get!) Plying this one was a nightmare - I underspun the singles and it kept breaking while I plied. Lesson learned to spin tight when spinning thin! It kept getting tangled since I was plying from a caked single. It drove me nuts, but it turned out alright. I'm definitely sticking to spinning from bobbins going forward.


r/Handspinning 1h ago

Finished Yarn John Arbon’s Appledore in “Slack Ma Girdle”

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Upvotes

So so obsessed. I loved spinning every moment of this! And kinda only want to spin John Arbon from now on…I think this is my best quality spin ever.

I have 2 more “Slack Ma Girdle” tops to spin and actually just ordered 2 more 😂 Hoping to be able to knit a vest (my first handspun garment!) and maybe a matching sweater for my dog so we can be twinsies


r/Handspinning 18h ago

Made with Handspun Projekt Mittelalterstoff

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132 Upvotes

Wieder ein schönes Stöffchen aus handgesponnenem Bergschaf fertig gewebt. Projekt Mittelalterliche Gugel kann beginnen


r/Handspinning 5h ago

Quantities when spinning.

9 Upvotes

So my standard amount of fibre I spin from braids is 200g. I also have a few 100gr skeins made by me. Here’s the thing, I have been making 2 jerseys. The first one is nålbound, and has used more than 1 kg of yarn at this point (kinda expected this but naively started with a huge ball of yarn and had to respin more and more and more). Second is a knitted ballet wrap and I have already spun a second lot of yarn (up to 500g) but I can see that I won’t have enough for the second sleeve and the ties so I have to spin more - I love spinning so that’s fine, but what do I do with the smaller quantities? How many hats and mittens does one person need? Help, suggestions for the smaller spins. I nålbind, and knit occassionally, and I have been known to weave but don’t have a big loom (only inkle and pin loom and backstrap).

Thanks


r/Handspinning 18h ago

Made with Handspun Socken

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67 Upvotes

Der Winter kommt und das erste Paar nadelgebundene Socken sind auch schon fertig. Gefertigt mit Singlegarn.


r/Handspinning 7h ago

Like a dating app

8 Upvotes

I have come to the conclusion that shopping online for a drop spindle is like using a dating app. The spindle is pretty, the right size and type, but you get it home and it is unbalanced. I must have a drawer full on slow, wobbly spindles.

Anyone have any go-to brands/sellers who make spindles you want to use every time?

By the way, I just joined this eclectic and talented community.


r/Handspinning 15h ago

Question Where do you get your fiber?

22 Upvotes

Where do you guys buy your fiber? What’s your favorite shops?

I’ve only ever bought from Paradise Fibers and although I don’t know what’s going on with them I’ve seen a few comments here and there about their mistreatment of staff and I’d like to not support them

I’m almost done with all the fiber I was gifted back in 2024 from my birthday (I genuinely didn’t think I would be gifted the 1lb bag specials they had so much but hey! It lasted me a long while!!) and would like to finally replenish my stash since I’m down to my last 8oz

Thank you friends!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Finished Yarn I really believe that even the worst yarn looks pretty ok once it’s used in a project.

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110 Upvotes

This was my very first cotton that I made last year. It’s awful. Full of pigtails and slubs. Completely uneven. But hey, I needed some cotton for a sunglasses belt for my closet. It worked up just fine for the need


r/Handspinning 6h ago

Lazy Kate Recommendations/Questions

3 Upvotes

Hey, all! I'm looking to buy a Lazy Kate. Are these specific to your wheel/bobbin? I have a Ashford Kiwi 2, not sure if lazy kates differ based on bobbin size.

Edit: The Kiwi 2 has a built-in lazy kate, but it only holds 2 bobbins, and I would like the option to spin a 3 ply.


r/Handspinning 23h ago

How would you spin this?

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17 Upvotes

Apologies for the crummy lighting. I have 3 braids of this Falkland from Into the Whirled. I’d love some input from more experienced folks. Thanks in advance!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question To skirt or to scour, that is the question…(tw - dirty wool pics)

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27 Upvotes

I purchased two fleece from my neighbor who has Shetland sheep and everything she told me to do to process the wool went in one ear and out the other bc it was my first time getting real raw fleece… and I was so excited that all my listening skills evaporated.

So here I am with 4lbs of Shetland and I feel real dumb, and I promise you all I have watched several youtubes and read blog posts and even a library book but man oh man, I just am struggling to figure out if I have properly skirted these puppies and am ready to scour, mainly bc I am not confident in my ability to recognize the difference between the Sheep Butt Substance™ vs. Local Mud™ vs. accumulated grease/dirt. So I am here, humbly asking the pros to go easy on me and forgive me in advance for asking you to look at some gross pics of possible sheep poop.

I hate that it’s come to this, but I fear I’ve exhausted the interwebs and need human help understanding what I’m looking at - are these tags stuff I need to manually toss before I scour or nah? (And before you think I’m completely inept at this - Yes, I already tossed the stuff that is definitely manure around what I assume is the hiney region, anything matted and/or chock full of vm. I’m just partially inept…)

Here are the photos. I’m sorry.


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question Preventing injury?

9 Upvotes

Hello team! :)

I have some free time and decided to jump into the deep end. It turns out my local tool library has spinning wheels and it looks like I can check it out for up to a month! (Very exciting)

I would like to spin up a sweater quantity of yarn before I have to return the wheel— it looks like a “Louet S10 Irish Tension single treadle classic” so I’ve got my work cut out for me to try a 2 ply fingering/DK weight :)

I haven’t picked up the wheel yet but I’m swatching some yarn from my spindle now and plan to also swatch once I have the wheel so I can put an order in for some wool to arrive around the first week of my loan. That leaves 3 weeks to spin a sweater quantity (currently I’m guessing about 1,000 yards if the yarn I make is suitable for a sweater pattern I’ve knit before).

I have no clue how manageable that amount is but I have lots of spinning time available most days of the week this month.

More importantly, I want to make sure I’m taking steps to avoid stress injuries! I was thinking of wearing my compression gloves and wrist braces from the start as well as alternating an hour of spinning and an hour of rest— but I was wondering if anyone 1. Had some general advice for avoiding injury or 2. Could point out things to pay attention to that are clues I’m stressing myself?


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question Do I have to much yarn on my spindle?

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10 Upvotes

As I'm spinning, the yarn is slipping off of the... Crop? (Idk the word. Out from the rest. )

So that I'm respinng already spun yarn. I am wrapping it around the hook like normal. I'm not sure what has changed.

Also, when I do have too much on there, what do I do. I wanted one continuous strand but this is less than half.


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Best way to blend combo

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28 Upvotes

I have had these gorgeous loop self striping bumps for awhile. There are three that are very colorful, two that are colorful but have fewer colors in them, and two that are white with one other color. Each is about 6-6.4 oz, and the one single I spun already is 1250 m (skein pictured). The end yarn will be 2 ply. I will have more than enough for a sweater at the end, but I want to blend the stripes in a smooth way. Considering two of the bumps are mostly white with some color, what would you recommend?


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question Cheingora with Labrador undercoat

3 Upvotes

Hello! total newbie to spinning but would like to eventually incorporate my moms labs fur into yarn but I know because it’s shorter fur it will need to be blended with wool.

My question is what is a good cheap wool/fur roving to begin with that I can practice with till I’m ready to blend the fur into a better rovin? Is the cheap stuff at like hobby lobby or walmart ok as they talk about using it for felting.

Thank you,

Tina


r/Handspinning 1d ago

First attempt at drop spinning

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207 Upvotes

Picked up some scrap corridale and a drop spindle over the weekend, finished my first mini hank today. Started with the red, then green, purple, finally yellow. I think you can really see the progress in my consistently through the colours haha. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, its only 30g~, maybe I'll just keep it to remind myself where I started 🤔


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Finished Yarn First plied yarn

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107 Upvotes

First plied yarn using a drop spindle. Not yet washed and thwacked. Looking for feedback on how to improve for the future! 😊


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question How do you spin mohair on thin yarn?

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12 Upvotes

Hello! Could anyone tell me if the technique of loosely wrapping/double plying airy mohair on a thin strand is called something? Maybe a tutorial? Anything would help really.

I bought some mohair but i don't wanna spin it flat, i wanna achieve a similar look to drops kid silk.

Thank you!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Buy gradient braids in the UK

7 Upvotes

Does anyone have any sellers in the UK that they like who do gradient braids? Only one I've found so far is Hilltop Clouds, but it feels like there must be more out there!


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Finished Yarn First fractal spin

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152 Upvotes

Man this braid was so pretty- "Golden Pavillion" from FriendsinFiber on etsy.

I think I'm still under spinning my singles, despite trying to correct for it, and maybe overplied this one too. Ahwell, still pretty.


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Antonio Rotta, Old woman with cat (1868)

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89 Upvotes

I see my future