This video is understated perfection- simple, clear, - wonderful! Your voice,( tempo, volume, accent,) is a great match to the tempo of the instruction- like perfectly even spinning if that makes sense!
Totally agree. Rayne is the best teacher I've come across on you tube. I almost gave up before watching her . Now I have the confidence to spin a fine yarn. Thank you so much.
I am going to give it another try after watching 4 other videos. This one is by far the best. I think your spinning secret tip did it for me. Love it! I think I am falling down the spinning rabbit hole! 🧶❣️
You're a life saver! I could never grasp how people could draft so easily and so fast but this makes it all clear. Not only can I probably spin around 10 times faster than before, it's also much less frustrating :') Thank you!
Thank you. I took a class as had no luck prior. I was trying to do the slight untwist and the instructo almost stopped me til i just did this. "Oh, ive no seen that before!" Gotta love it; i had a technique.
Excellent tutorial. So many tips. When I saw you join the break, it made me think of joining commercial yarn ! If I could simply card the end of my yarn, add the new yarn (also carded) and spin the join ? I am going to try. So there is no break in my work. Your secret technique was beautifully explained. I also like the fact the arms don't have to go high up. Makes drop swindling easier in small spaces. Have you seen the staff being used? The lady kept the roving on a staff, wrapped with a ribbon. (She was reproducing medieval times). This meant the roving was high up and there was a lot of it. Made me think of the staff of Mary and her little lamb. The dealgan spindle was made to use in the fields. Very robust. So, imagine, picking up sheep's wool and keeping it on ones staff ! So practical. Watch the sheep and spindle at the same time.
I have seen some distaff spindle spinning (I think it's called). I will be trying it one day in the future for sure! I love how it can keep your roving or top out of the way as you spin along. You could definity use a joining technique like the one in this video for commercial yarn. I believe wool would work the best for a join like this. Also, I have another video dedicated to a special technique I use in joining yarn here on my channel if you want to see a closer of how I actually join the 2 singles and keep the ply even. Thank you for your wonderful comment and happy spinning!
SUPER helpful! I'm trying to start spindle spinning and have been getting so frustrated, but these are fantastic tips and you explain them really well. Thank you!
This is a brilliant video. First time I have understood the instructions. Thank you for explaining this slowly, closeup too is very helpful for me. A total beginner. Will be having a try. thank you. 😊
Thank you so much! That was my aim with this video I am so glad you are going to try it. It is such a cool hobby with endless possibilities! Good luck and happy spinning!
I just started trying to spin with a drop spindle. I am a long-time knitter with absolutely ZERO knowledge or understanding of how yarn actually comes together. I am using a spindle a friend made for me and donated fiber, so I know in part I might have an easier time with different materials, but mostly I am just really struggling to grasp the concept and method. Every video I watch, even beginner ones, seems to assume basic background knowledge that I don't have and it's stressful and frustrating. I live in Louisiana, and when your video came on and I heard your voice/accent I felt so much more comfortable. Watching this helped a lot. I can't quite grasp what you're doing when you get to the "secret", because my foundational knowledge and frame of reference for what you're doing isn't there, but I feel like I'm on the verge of it and if I could get my head around that I'd have it. Thank you so much for creating this video, it just made me feel so much calmer and less overwhelmed listening to your way of explaining things. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
Thank you so much for this video! I just got my first drop spindle and I read the instructions that came with it while scratching my head, but you explained everything so well I'm ready to try now! Oh gosh what an angel to include troubleshooting problems!
Hi, thankyou so much for this video tutorial on using Drop Spindles. I'm a fairly new Spindler. This video is most helpful. Your close camera angles make it easy to see what you are doing and your explanation makes it easy for us to understand what we need to do. Thanks again. Happy Spindling. Take care and stay safe xx
When clearing out my mothers house I found raw rare sheep fleece and 3 drop spindles. Years ago my mother said she wanted to spin and must have bought the supplies and tucked them away. I have no idea the breed of the sheep but I will need to wash the lanolin out. I bought some dog slick brushes and with your brilliant info. I just might be able to spin. I am now a new subscriber from Scotland. Many thanks
I used to be a knitter many years ago and do something completely different now, but got it into my head that I needed to learn how to use a drop spindle, so far with no success at all ;-) I watched a whole bunch of beginner's tutorials and was about to give up on this, but when I found your video, I regained hope that I will be cracking this eventually.
@@RayneFiberArtsNo success yet, but I won't be giving up! I have to admit, however, it is a little unnerving the way my cat looks at me with big eyes as if I have gone crazy!
I took a drop spindle class years ago and needed a refresher. This was not how I was taught, but this is so much easier and gives a more consistent thickness!
@@Ash-hi5hy I have one for plying on an espinner and on this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_bQY_t6ouK8.html at time 5:07 there is a short demo plying on a drop spindle, but I can certainly do a more in depth tutorial!
Wonderful video! I wish I had this kind of instruction when I learned. Isn’t spinning a beautiful thing? You can fix a mistake so that it’s like it never happened!
Brilliant! Anyone can make something simple complicated, but it takes a bit of genius to make something complicated simple. You have that genius. Thank you - after all these years, I think I can do this. 💗💗💗
My philosophy is "everything is easy, ONCE you understand it." Big emphasis there. Unlike many people SHE understands what she is teaching us. That is why it seems so easy, and she can so calmly teach
You are very welcome! As I like to say welcome to the rabbit hole! One fleece will soon not be enough LOL at least for me it wasn't! Thank you for your kind comment and happy fleece processing and spinning!!
Hi Rayne. I'm finding all your videos very interesting and informative. I've just begun with the drop spindle and I have a question for you. After you ply...or even after you single ply...how do you get your yarn from unwinding when you're through with filling the spindle? Right now, I'm just using little bow-ties, but there must be some way that I haven't heard yet. Even after I wet finish my two-ply, it doesn't seem to really want to stop it. Is there perhaps some yarn that's better than others for not unwinding? Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Love your question! If after wet setting it is still twisting around you may have too much twist in your finished yarn. For singles, I wind them onto a ball winder, you can also use a toilet tissue tube to wind onto, or I sometimes use a piece of cardboard box I cut into a square. I know what you mean by bow tie I have also made a few of them and they can get to be a mess. I hope this helps! And as for finished yarn you can use the above mentioned as well, a lot of different things can be used as a makeshift bobbin.
What a great question! You would just wind it off. You can do so with a ball winder, swift, your hands, some have used the inside tube of a toilet paper roll, back of a chair, I have even used a lampshade before (but I don't recommend it, doing it too much ruined my lampshade lol).
I am so glad this helped you! Don't be afraid to start it might just become your new obsession! It is not hard at all, just use the park and draft method until you feel comfortable to let go of it! Happy spinning!
You may drop spindling so clear. I love your podcast and am so glad I discovered it. Your calm, easy-going personality shines through. Thanks so much for providing such slow, clear, excellent spinning instruction. I will also recommend this to a new spinning friend of mine.
6:13 ".... and of course, if you are not going for consistency you can always do it a different way." I LOVE THAT ATTITUDE! She boths gives her own wonderful advice, and gives you permission to do it however you want.
This is so great! I have been spinning like this for years, but nobody ever mentioned it. They were all, " keep twist out of the zone!" and I'm thinking "No! I use twist in the zone to control the size of the thread by untwisting as i go!" So good to see how well you explain this💕
beautiful instructions - so clear and concise, with great demonstrations. I've watched a lot of also-very-good instructors which has started me off with a drop spindle, but there's something about your way of working & explaining that's just clicked with me. I'm so glad to have found your channel. Thank you!
You can wind it into a ball by hand, or some use an empty toilet tissue roll (the cardboard insert part), or a ball winder is my favorite. A word of caution though if you use a ball winder and the singles have a lot of spin it could tangle when you go to ply it so just be careful and mindful of if you will be plying it or just storing it. If you are wanting to leave as is go ahead and make it into a hank of yarn to set the twist. A swift is best for that, or you can use the backs of a chair or chairs, or your foot and hand or hand and elbow. I hope this makes sense and helps!
Thank you so much for this tip and the excellent close up of how you move your fingers. I'm total beginner and using fibre from our own Romney ewes Slub and Slug. Kindest regards from N Ireland xx
So glad I could help all the way in Ireland! Amazing! That is so cool to be able to raise a sheep and then spin its wool. That is totally a dream of mine, one day hopefully! Happy spinning!
Your video creation and lesson is so perfect. Thank you for sharing such valuable content. I recently bought a second drop spindle and was trying it out last night, and immediately went down in a ball of flaming failure. I was following some instructions and decided that I needed ten extra hands, an IQ upgrade or one exceptional teacher to pull me out of the dark places. Then I decided to wait and seek a teacher and here you are. I found that there were just too many things that my hands had to be doing at the same time, and you have broken those tasks into more manageable bites. I'll have to watch your video a few more times before I try again. This is not easy. Drop spindles should come with that warning. Thanks again, sorry for the long winded message. Thanks again.
The “untwist” makes perfect sense. Takes the pressure off the end of the twisted section for ease of continuing. I wish my spinning teacher had mentioned that-thank you so much Rayne!!
Grasp the very end of your fiber and gently pull out until it comes apart and see how long the fiber is. That is your staple length. you must keep your spinning within the staple length for it to not pull apart on you. It could be that yours is too short. Hope this helps.
Great video, but I could do without the music or at least make it MUCH quieter. I have a question about drafting (I have just started learning) but I don't know how to describe my problem without adding a photo. Can I send you an email? Sorry, I don't have Facebook. Also, I would like a video of what type of wool is possible to spin: There are so many different wordings on Amazon (UK) to describe the type of wool which don't mean anything to me. Hardly ever the seller says if the wool is suitable for spinners. I guess they assume the buyer knows already.
I agree, the music is a bit too loud, this was one of my first videos and I was still learning! Hopefully I can find a way to lower it one day. So, when I am looking for wool to spin, I usually look for lower micron wool roving or combed top. If that is what you are looking for. Raw wool can be a bit more of a challenge to find to spin. For raw wool the staple length and vegetable matter can be factors. Do you have an Instagram? If not, you can click on my channel and in the About section, there is a link to my business email you can email me there and I will try to help you!
Ooh these are great tips! I already have my own technique going on but these will be really helpful. I can get it quite thin but my yarn untwists itself a lot - I wash it then hang it up to dry with a weight on it, but it's still quite untwisted and a bit too hairy 😂 is that why we ply it? I haven't done that yet although some of it plied itself pretty well!
It takes some practice for sure. I love a good, plied yarn! I almost feel like getting the twist right to leave it as a single would be much harder! I will be trying it in a future video. Thank you so much for the comment and welcome to my channel glad you are finding it helpful! Happy spinning!
Im hooked!!! Love your video! I have new dairy ewes and rams. East Friesian/Lacaune, Finn, Asaaf/Finn..... i will shear them this spring and looking forward to their wool. I took a peek under the top at the fibers next to their skin. Wow, a beautiful wavy pattern!! Thank you!!
My daughter put her name on my account but they got me a drop. Spindle for my birthday as I always wanted to be able to spin. Wool. The instructions didn't explain it enough for me so came in you ubtube and thanks so much as I now have a better idea of what I am doing .
