Hand Spinning on a Spindle

Hand spindles are an economical alternative to a spinning wheel and can create a passion for spinning in their own right. With a small amount of practice, the twisting of the fibre can create a beautiful, hand-spun yarn. As the spindle is so portable you can practice your hand spinning very easily whenever you have a spare minute.

Choosing a Fibre for Hand Spinning

Wool tops (sometimes known as sliver or roving) are cleaned and combed fibres. The fibre length (or staple) and fibre type are factors in mastering the technique of spindle spinning. Bluefaced Leicester and most downland wool fibres are ideal for beginners. The fibres have a good ‘grab’ quality and will not slide apart when you are drafting them onto the spindle.

How to Hand-spin Yarn on a Spindle

These instructions are for spinning a yarn on a top whorl spindle (the whorl is at the stop of the spindle and often has a hook just above it).

1. Choose a combed wool top such as Bluefaced Leicester. The fibre has a fine lofty handle and is the most valuable of British wools. Pull off about a metre of the wool top and split it into 4 lengthways. These lengths are called sliver.
2. Practise drawing out the fibres from the sliver by taking a handful of wool in one hand and pulling away some of the fibres with your other hand. Twist the fibres in one direction as you pull; this will prevent them from separating from the mass.
3. Take a length of yarn and tie it around the shaft immediately below the whorl. This is the “leader” yarn. Take the leader over the top of the whorl and position it in the small groove at the edge of the whorl (if your spindle has one) before slipping it through the hook.
4. Sit down so that you have the use of your lap. Twist the fibres at the end of leader yarn so that they fluff out. Hold the drawn fibres and the end of the leader together and gently twist the spindle clockwise. As the leader twists the fibres will become entwined with the leader to make a join. This is also the method used for adding more fibre as you spin your yarn.
5. When you have made the join, twist the spindle and stop it from spinning backwards by catching the spindle between your knees. Keeping hold of the fibres and leader, pinch the spun yarn with your free hand to prevent the twist from travelling into the undrafted fibre. Pull out more fibre from the mass and slide the pinching fingers (and the built up twist) into the newly drafted fibre. A small amount of fibre will produce a fine yarn; the more you draft, the thicker the yarn.
6. To reduce the amount of twist, slide your fibre hand back a little and untwist the yarn in the opposite direction it was spun. Draft out more fibre before allowing the twist to move back into the yarn.
7. Repeat this process until the spun yarn is arm length. Keeping it taut, wind the yarn clockwise onto the spindle. Aim to wind the yarn into a cone shape with the widest area immediately below the whorl.
8. Once you are confident with the process you can stand with the spindle. Draft out the fibres as before but allow the spindle to keep spinning. If it stops and starts to untwist, add more opposite twists. Do not allow the yarn to untwist back into fibres as this will cause them to pull apart and the spindle to drop.
9. Repeat the steps until you have a ball of wool round the spindle. This is a ‘single’ yarn which can be used for open lacy knitting. To make a balanced yarn, you need to make two balls of this single yarn and then ply them together.

How to Ply Hand-spun Yarn

1. Make two balls of single yarn (wind off the spindle into a ball). Place the two balls in a box. Tie a new leader onto the spindle and tie both of the yarns to the end of the leader. Spin the yarns together in an anticlockwise direction. This will give you a stable two ply yarn.
2. Wind the new two ply yarn from the spindle into a hank; starting between your forefinger and thumb, around your elbow and back again. Tie loosely round the hank in about four places to prevent it becoming tangled during washing. Put a little detergent in water as hot as your hand will bear. Push the hank down into the water BUT DO NOT STIR. Leave completely alone until cold. Then re-wash and dry as you would a fine wool jumper.

Types of Hand Spindle

We offer a variety of hand spindles on the George Weil website. Here is a little more information about the types of spindle available.

The Low Whorl spindle (also known as the Bottom Whorl Spindle) has a whorl that sits near the bottom of the shaft. The spun yarn will be wound around the shaft above the whorl. The whorl on the High Whorl spindle (also known as Top Whorl Spindle) is attached to the top of the shaft. The spun yarn will be wound around the shaft below the whorl. A high whorl spindle spins slightly faster than a low whorl spindle, making the low whorl spindle marginally easier to master.

Drop spindles can be used to spin most fibres. The thickness of the yarn is determined by the weight of the spindle, the twist, and the feed of the fibre. A low whorl spindle weighing 70g will produce a medium to thick yarn, while a 60g high whorl spindle, which spins slightly faster, will produce a fine to medium yarn.

The Turkish drop spindle is a fun and practical way to make a perfect ball of hand-spun yarn. The spun yarn is wound around the cross-bars until full. The ball of yarn and cross-bars are then pushed off the spindle before removing the cross-bars to leave a neatly wound ball of hand-spun yarn.

More Info

The Fibrecrafts Spindle Spinning Kit provides a spindle, fibre and instructions.

The website for The Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers provides links to information about local guilds, their Summer School, exhibitions and more.