Recently I’ve been doing more supported spinning. I have wanted to improve some of my yarn management skills, in particular the figure-8 butterfly to help manage lengths of yarn while winding onto the cop. So I decided to do some supported spinning while commuting to work. I first started with a spindle I got from Stringtopia, a studio in Lebanon, Ohio that is no longer, unfortunately, in business. The spindle is from Peru and is a traditional type of spindle from that region. It can be used as a suspended or supported spindle. Since I was in the enclosed space of a car, I decided to use it as a supported spindle.
The wool I’ve been spinning is 3/4 Targhee that I’ve had for many years. It is quite soft and bouncy, and I think it will make a nice light yarn. The bowl is one I got recently at a fiber festival in Athens, Ohio. It is walnut and is very pretty.
After I was reasonably far along in the initial spinning I found another, smaller and lighter spindle also from Peru, which I then continued to spin on. I decided not long after to wind the first cop off into a ball, which I did, around a penny.
I’ve been quite happy with my progress with this very functional spindle, but decided that a fancier, modern style spindle might be fun to have as well, so I found one on Etsy by Silly Salmon Designs. It arrived today and I was able to spend some time spinning on it. It spins beautifully, very well balanced, and I was quickly able to spin up some lovely yarn. Here are some photos of the spindle with credentials.
Since this spindle has a stainless steel tip I’ve been spinning with it in a small ceramic bowl rather than in the wooden bowl.
It’s been fun seeing how much yarn I’ve been spinning in relatively short spurts.
