Yarn Spinning with a Modern Twist: How to create your own gorgeous yarns using a drop spindle

by Vanessa Kroening

Overview

Want to spin your own beautiful yarn? Expert spinner Vanessa Kroening shows you how in this easy introduction to spinning with a drop spindle. No need to invest in an expensive spinning wheel!

"The bounty of photos ensure readers will know how every step should look, and Kroening’s knowledge of the craft impresses. This makes yarn spinning easy." - Publishers Weekly

Expert spinner Vanessa Kroening shows you how to spin in this wonderfully accessible introduction to spinning with a drop spindle. Vanessa explains how to:

• clean and prepare fleece for spinning

• what to look out for when choosing a fleece

• how to card, blend colors, and make rolags and batts.

• use a drop spindle

• ply your yarn and how to add beads, sequins and other elements, as well as how to dye your yarn

Spinning with a drop spindle isn’t just fun – it's amazingly relaxing and highly creative too. You get to choose the type of fiber, and the colors and thickness of the yarn you make - you can even dye the yarn, and add beads, sequins and other embellishments to create your own unique yarns. A spindle is so compact, you can carry it around town with you and is not even necessary to have to spin. Be inspired and take your knitting, crochet, felting and weaving to a whole new level!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782217947
Publisher:	Search Press
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	868,420
Product dimensions:	8.56(w) x 11.06(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Vanessa Kroening is an expert in spinning with a drop spindle, and acquired her knowledge through reading, researching, experimenting and meeting with like-minded crafters. She has exhibited as The Spinner’s Stash at craft and fibre shows such as The British Wool Show, Kirsty Allsopp’s Handmade Fair, Yarnporium and Textiles East and now exhibits at yarn shows in the US such as Stitches Midwest and Southeastern Animal and Fiber Fair. Additionally, she offers lessons and workshops in both spinning and felting.

Vanessa is married with one child and has recently moved back to Valdosta, GA after 15 years in the UK. Formerly an aircraft mechanic in the United States Air Force, Vanessa's online shop, The Spinner’s Stash, specializes in handmade drop spindles, and spinning and felting fibres. Samples of her work can be found on her website, thespinnersstash.com and on Instagram @thespinnersstash.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Choosing & preparing your fleece 10

What is fleece? 10

Inspecting a fleece 12

Shelf life and storage 16

Cleaning or scouring a fleece 18

Fibre preparation 22

Hand carding 24

Carding using a blending board 28

Preparing a rolag for spinning 35

Drum carders 36

How to create a batt with a drum carder 38

How to make roving 43

How to prepare roving for spinning 45

Colourways 46

Spinning 48

Anatomy of a drop spindle 48

Choosing a spindle 49

Twisty stick 51

Choosing your spinning fibre 51

Attaching the leader thread 52

Drafting 56

How to attach wool to the leader thread 57

Spinning singles 60

Starting to spin 62

Plying 68

Lazy kate 68

Winding a centre-pull ball 69

Making a standard two-ply yarn 71

Andean plying 72

Finishing the yarn 75

Making a niddy noddy 80

Setting the twist 85

Drop spindle techniques 86

Basic thread plying 86

Autowrapping 87

Cloud spinning 88

Lock spinning 89

Core spinning 98

Using embellishments 102

Dyeing 110

How to dye fibre 111

Dip dyeing 112

Other dyeing methods 113

Yarn inspiration 114

Expanding your knowledge further 124

Glossary 126

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2022

The colorful debut from spinner Kroening teaches crafters how to make yarn using a drop spindle. The author breaks down how to use the simple instrument to turn raw fleece into thread, helping readers get started with advice on how to choose a fleece (matted wool is hard to spin, and kemp doesn’t dye well), clean it (tease the fibers apart and soak them in warm water), and card it (she prefers using a blending board, which resembles a small easel with sharp-toothed tines on it). Step-by-step photos show how to use the spindle, which dangles in the air from a strand of wool that tightens into yarn as one spins the tool. The author’s variations on drop spindle technique are a highlight, showing how to incorporate beads, sequins, and other embellishments. She also shows how to adjust the way one feeds wool to the spindle to create different yarn textures; for example, intermittently adjusting the angle of one’s wrist downward as one pushes the wool creates a “thick-and-thin” thread that leaves tufts in the yarn. The bounty of photos ensure readers will know how every step should look, and Kroening’s knowledge of the craft impresses. This makes yarn spinning easy. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Publisher's Weekly, 11/17/22

The colorful debut from spinner Kroening teaches crafters how to make yarn using a drop spindle. The author breaks down how to use the simple instrument to turn raw fleece into thread, helping readers get started with advice on how to choose a fleece (matted wool is hard to spin, and kemp doesn’t dye well), clean it (tease the fibers apart and soak them in warm water), and card it (she prefers using a blending board, which resembles a small easel with sharp-toothed tines on it). Step-by-step photos show how to use the spindle, which dangles in the air from a strand of wool that tightens into yarn as one spins the tool. The author’s variations on drop spindle technique are a highlight, showing how to incorporate beads, sequins, and other embellishments. She also shows how to adjust the way one feeds wool to the spindle to create different yarn textures; for example, intermittently adjusting the angle of one’s wrist downward as one pushes the wool creates a “thick-and-thin” thread that leaves tufts in the yarn. The bounty of photos ensure readers will know how every step should look, and Kroening’s knowledge of the craft impresses. This makes yarn spinning easy.


Library Journal

"Here expert spinner Kroening (TheSpinnersStash.com) shares her love of spinning wool. She presents spinning as a relaxing way of creating one’s own yarn and implies that using a drop spindle is all one needs to do it. She opens with sharing information about wool, but then her presentation becomes much more detailed and complicated. Spinning wool, in fact, requires many steps, which Kroening illustrates and explains clearly. The drop spindle is only one of several tools needed to spin wool. The author presents each tool that can be used and shows how to use it, but she does not recommend the best vendors for purchasing wool or tools.
VERDICT This book may be intimidating for readers who have no experience with or easy access to raw wool. It is geared much more to those who are already spinning wool and seeking more specialized advice."

From the Publisher

01/01/2023

Here expert spinner Kroening (TheSpinnersStash.com) shares her love of spinning wool. She presents spinning as a relaxing way of creating one's own yarn and implies that using a drop spindle is all one needs to do it. She opens with sharing information about wool, but then her presentation becomes much more detailed and complicated. Spinning wool, in fact, requires many steps, which Kroening illustrates and explains clearly. The drop spindle is only one of several tools needed to spin wool. The author presents each tool that can be used and shows how to use it, but she does not recommend the best vendors for purchasing wool or tools. VERDICT This book may be intimidating for readers who have no experience with or easy access to raw wool. It is geared much more to those who are already spinning wool and seeking more specialized advice.—Laura Ellis

Library Journal