Cast of Characters: The Emily Spindle
I learned to spin about three years ago on a drop spindle. I loved it from the start; spinning is so tactile and so soothing, and the icing on the cake is that it creates something that you can then use to make something else! It's the process, for sure.
A year later, I took a class to learn how to use a wheel. I was immediately enthralled. Compared to spinning on a spindle, a wheel seemed so much faster, so much easier, so much more soothing with the added rhythm of treadling and additional control over drafting. I bought a wheel during the class and it was a long while before I picked any of my spindles up again.
Over the past year, though, I find myself using my drop spindles more and more. It is so easy to just pick up a spindle and spin for a few minutes. I don't generally break out the wheel unless I have a decent amount of time -- at least 20 minutes, preferably more -- to devote to it, and those blocks of time have not been coming as often as I'd like lately.
Spindles are so great for sampling fiber, and for spinning up small amounts -- enough for socks, hats, mittens, scarves. I don't think I'll ever end up spinning a sweater's worth of wool on a spindle, but you never know. They are portable, easy to take up or down stairs, on a trip, or outside. They don't need to be oiled, there are no adjustments -- just pick 'em up and start spinning. Small stolen minutes spent drop spindling here and there can quickly add up to as much yarn as you might produce when spinning in one or two sessions on a wheel.
It amazes me how tools can be so much the same and so different. Every spindle (and every wheel for that matter) has the same basic parts; whorl, shaft hook. And yet they all spin and perform so differently. A spindle collection -- or any kind of collection, really -- is a true cast of characters.
Here is one of the characters in my collection. It is a purpleheart Emily top-whorl spindle by Adam Mielke, purchased from the Bellwether.
This spindle weighs about 1.1 ounces, and is the most-used spindle in my collection. It has a long, non-wobbly spin, and can spin singles ranging from very fine laceweight to almost dk weight with no problems. The large whorl means it can hold a respectable amount of yarn, too, which makes it a great spindle for plying. This fiber in this picture is an 80% merino / 20% kid mohair blend in a rich teal color. The plan is to turn this yarn into a two-ply for a pair of socks.