The Complete Guide to Spinning Yarn

Chapter 1: What Is Spinning Yarn and Why People Love It

Let me start with a scene that I hope will feel familiar by the end of this chapter. It's a Tuesday evening. You're holding what looks like a small wooden top with a whorl on top and a hook at the top. Dangling from that hook is a thick, twisted length of fluffy wool — this is called a "leader" — and attached to the bottom of it is a clump of prepared wool fiber that looks like a soft, airy cloud. Your left hand holds that bundle of fiber, which is called a "roving." Your right hand is giving the spindle — that wooden top — a gentle, practiced flick and twist. The spindle spins, twisting the wool into yarn. You let the twist run up into the fiber in your left hand, and then — you'll do this a hundred times without thinking — you pinch with your right thumb and forefinger and gently pull your left hand away, drawing the fiber out thinner. This is called "drafting." The twist grabs the new thin fiber, and suddenly you've made another few inches of yarn.

That scenario — the drop spindle — is the classic entry point into spinning. There's also the spinning wheel, which does the same job with a treadle you pump with your feet and a wheel that turns the bobbin. But whether you're using the little wooden top or the big furniture-looking wheel, the