How to Make a Simple Turkish Style Drop Spindle

I never knew why Turkish Style Drop Spindles were so popular. I was amazed to find out what they do. I wrote a tutorial on how to make an easy one. This is the best spindle I've ever used.

How to Make a Simple Turkish Style Drop Spindle

 

If you haven't done much with drop spindles, here's an excellent book to help you out.

 

Make Your Own Niddy Noddy

I wrote an article on Wizzley about making a niddy noddy and how to use one. Read it HERE.

A Fantasy

I had a fantasy about how some crafts were discovered. I wrote an article about it on my Wizzley page. You can read it HERE.

How to Prepare Fleece for Spinning

I just posted a tutorial about preparing fleece for spinning on Wizzley.com. I also included some YouTube videos and pictures. Check it out here. Preparing Fleece for Spinning

When I'm out at an outdoor market or craft fair with my spinning wheel, people often ask me, "What are you making?" I try not to sound sarcastic, but the answer is, as a matter of fact, "YARN." The truth is, I'm not always spinning to knit or weave something in particular.. Sometimes I spin yarn to sell, sometimes just to use up some bunny fur, dog hair or sheep wool that has been accumulating. Sometimes I have something new like raw llama that I just want to see spun up. Sometimes I spin just to relax or to keep my hands busy.
It takes 3-4 times as long to prepare and spin yarn as it does to weave with it. I rarely have the time to do that. I get to spin here and there, in odd chunks of time. I do it just because I like it and want to keep my shelves full of yarn. Weaving takes up great quantities of yarn and when I'm weaving it's full steam ahead.  It has been said that in the days of homespun clothing, it took 7 spinners to keep one weaver busy! No way I can keep up with that!

Tiny Spinning

The first time I tried a small support spindle, I didn't like it much. My hand cramped and I had a hard time drafting. Then I read somewhere that they work great for slippery fibers. I have angora fiber and dog hair, both slippery fibers, so I thought I'd give it another try. Wow. What a difference! No trouble drafting and no hand cramps. I tried sheep's wool again and confirmed that it was very hard to spin on a tiny support spindle, but the slippery stuff spun like a cloud. I was so excited that I made a handful of spindles. These are made from African beads and the little dish is from polymer clay. I even made a small hole for "parking' the spindle. It really looks cute sitting on its little stand. I made some other types too but I'll have to take more pics.