Written by Sally Barret of Knit Sally Knit
FEATURED SUPPLIER! – Shiela Dixon
| Some of you not only enjoy knitting and crocheting, you also enjoy spinning your own yarn! For those that do I suggest you have a look at the fabulous luxury handcarded batts that Shiela supplies in her Folksy Shop.
In particular I was enthralled by her beautiful ‘Strawberry Princess’ which looks just like a delicious ball of candy floss. It’s made from fine merino wool and very fine and fluffy angora, well-blended. The result is a fluffy batt ready to spin into yarn fit for a princess! It’s been passed through the carder several times so the finished result is very airy. Another favourite is ‘Wheatfield’ which is beautifully fine merino in two colours, well-blended with a little silk. The colour is golden, like a ripe field of wheat or barley. Merino itself is quite silky, but the small amount of silk gives the yarn more of a sheen. Apparently if you choose to spin this very fine, it will also help to strengthen the yarn. Shiela Dixon is an enthusiastic knitter, spinner and walker. Her handspinner HQ is on the border between Leicestershire and the beautiful South Derbyshire . |
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FOLKSY FINDS! – Button It!
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Knitting and Crochet Tips – Types of Spindles
As we have been talking today about spinning your own yarn, although it’s not strictly about knitting or crochet, I thought it would be appropriate to talk a bit about spinning, for those knitter and crocheters like myself who fancy going that step further along the path of creating your own unique garments from scratch, how good would that feel to spin first the yarn that you knit!
There are two main types of spinning, the first is with a drop spindle which is probably the best for a beginner, both in price and complexity and then there is spinning with a wheel.
Spindles
Spindles are very basic consisting of a shaft and a weight and basically you tease your bits of fibre allow them to catch ‘the leader’ (a bit of scrapped yarn attached to your spindle) and you drop your spindle and spin, for detailed beginners instructions visit: www.handspinner.co.uk
There are two types of spindles, suspended and supported, the most common are suspended of these there are two types:
Low Whorl Spindle: A low whorl spindle is best for spinning thicker and heavier yarns as it spins slowly.
High Whorl Spindle: This spindle is best for thinner finer yarns as it spins faster.
Using a drop spindle is very portable and very cheap to get started and apparently very relaxing. If you decide you like spinning you could invest in a spinning wheel which is quite a bit more expensive.
There are plenty of drop spindle starter kits available for as little as £25 which will supply you with all that you need to get started and a spindle costs as little as £10.
I don’t know about you but I think I have talked myself into having a go :-)
Happy knitting and crocheting :-)
This article was kindly written for the Folksy blog by Sally Barret of Knit Sally Knit
