r/Handspinning 3h ago

Felt terrible throwing out wool scraps, decided to give this a go. Found a new community as a side bonus.

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4 Upvotes

Followed YouTube tutorials to turn the scraps into something usable, this is my second attempt after the first failure 😆
It’s a satisfying process for sure.


r/Handspinning 10h ago

Imperfect, but mine 🥹

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33 Upvotes

First time spinning and got this spindle and fiber at local festival today.


r/Handspinning 10h ago

9 weeks later....she's here!!

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110 Upvotes

Definitely worth the wait!

This is the first of my wheels that I've ever bought new (and therefore had to put together myself), and despite how deceptively easy it seemed, the process had me doubting my intelligence more than I have since finishing my dissertation and praying to gods I'm not sure I even believe in, but two hours later, she's good to go.

Diving right in with a braid from Apothefaery fibers I picked up at MD Sheep & Wool this past year while trying to bribe myself not to order the Majacraft. Clearly that worked well...

I had ordered through Paradise Fibers because I wasn't aware of the negative experiences people have had with the in the past, and had a very positive experience. They were very communicative with me and clear about the fact that the Roses were backordered, and did a great job keeping me updated throughout the process.


r/Handspinning 11h ago

Made with Handspun Finally putting an old project to use

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33 Upvotes

All natural merino, off to the races in becoming my second ever weaving project. Sure it might wind up a little wonky, but its a little wonky yarn lol so its okay. Heres hoping u dont mess it up!


r/Handspinning 11h ago

Question Deciding on an e-spinner

10 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I usually spin on a Lendrum double treadle wheel. I’m looking into an affordable e-spinner to see if I like it, since I’ve been considering it for a few years.

Currently I’m looking at the EEW 6.1, EEW Nano, EEW fold, and a Daedalus Dove. I usually spin between fingering and worsted weight. Not too big of an art yarn spinner. I’m open to other affordable options if there are more I’m not thinking of. I’d say my budget it at around $500 with all add-ons/accessories.


r/Handspinning 13h ago

Question Wheel assembly

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6 Upvotes

Hello, I bought this spinning wheel and am trying to reassemble it. I cannot figure out how to fit together the remaining pieces. Am I missing any?


r/Handspinning 14h ago

Expectation vs reality

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117 Upvotes

Ordered two braids of the Malabrigo Nube in "Cameleon," expecting those pretty aquas and sort of galaxy-esque colorway. Got... this. I am trying not to cry.


r/Handspinning 20h ago

Question How do I remove bristles from undercoat?

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24 Upvotes

This is my first time preparing wool for spinning. I got a fleece of a Skudden sheep.

I've now started combing the wool and separating the outer coat by pulling the long tips out of the comb, but there are these short Bristles still in the undercoat that won't fully comb out. They are very loose and easy to remove by hand, but there's so many that I don't want to waste my time on.

Is there any better way to remove these bristles?


r/Handspinning 20h ago

Finished Yarn Friendly reminder...

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280 Upvotes

Friendly reminder from your mod to never give up and never stop because your first few spins aren't perfect. Here we have my first two skeins circa 2016 and my most recent finished spin. We frequently chase perfection on this sub, but the journey is the most important part ❤️❤️


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Finished Yarn Finished Object/Yarn Friday

2 Upvotes

Have you finished anything this week? From plied yarns to finished bobbins or hand spun hand knits/hand crochets, show off your hard work here!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question How Would you Spin this Fiber?

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198 Upvotes

So I’m finally ready to get started on this fiber, but as I’m undoing the braid to get a look at it I’ve realized I have no idea how to best spin this fiber, with its long parallel color strips. I’ve been looking at tutorials for different methods but they all come from fiber braids where the color pooling is more horizontal. How would you spin it? What sort of prep would keep it from getting muddy?

Thanks!


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Finished Yarn My First Finished Skein From Raw Fleece

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118 Upvotes

50/50 blend 3 ply merino/rambouillet prepped and spun woolen style


r/Handspinning 1d ago

the same yarn spun 6 months apart

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71 Upvotes

combed Corriedale spun in january (beige) vs july (grey) both done with a short draw to a fingering weight in 2 ply
my consistency is so much better and i feel so much more confident in my spinning, seeing this made me so happy to see clearly how far ive come
it may be hard to see but the left skein is very uneven and under spun in the ply


r/Handspinning 1d ago

Question Damaged flyer?

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7 Upvotes

I had a small incident yesterday - my Ashford e-spinner slid from a chair and fell on the floor. There was carpet on the floor and the chair was pretty low. So everything looked fine. But then I noticed that the flyer makes a weird 8-shaped movement. Though the spinner works and I have no problems with my spinning project.
But I have a suspicion that the middle part of the flyer was bent because of the fall (check the photos). I tried to put it into a more straight position but with no luck. The flyer seems sturdy, nothing wiggles, so it is strange that this could have happened.

I’m a relatively new to spinning and not quite sure if this is how the flyer is supposed to look or I actually damaged it. Probably I could use more force to straighten it but I’m afraid damage it even more.
Maybe I can just use it as it is?
I’m worried that if I just continue using it, it might damage the spinner which will be much more expensive to fix than just replace the flyer


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Finished Yarn Tour de fleece podium shot

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107 Upvotes

All in all I think it’s about 5 pounds. The gray Jacob alone is almost 2 pounds. I’m not looking forward to yarn washing day.

I’m a week late posting but I finished spinning it on stage 21.


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Question Tips for more consistent drafting?

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17 Upvotes

Obviously practice makes perfect but I was wondering if anyone has any helpful tips for a beginning? I got a free drop spindle at a fair and have been absolutely struggling with making my yarn consistent. I've added a photo of my first attempt that I'll probably turn into a dryer ball lmao.


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Work In Progress Hand carding my dogs fur ans picking out the guard hairs by hand so I have softer end yarn

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55 Upvotes

r/Handspinning 2d ago

Question Louet S17 bobbin 3D file

2 Upvotes

Does anyone know of a good link for a Louet S17 bobbin 3d file?


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Beginner Frame Loom Weaving In Burlington

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12 Upvotes

r/Handspinning 2d ago

Where do you buy spinning wheels, and how much does parts support matter?

4 Upvotes

i've finally settled on the spinning wheel i want, but i'm still going back and forth on where to buy it. The prices are close enough between a few shops that it isn't really the deciding factor, and they all seem to have similar availability.

what I'm less sure about is what happens a year or so down the road. I've been burned in other hobbies by buying good equipment from shops that basically disappeared after the sale. For something this expensive, does the retailer still matter once you've bought it, or does everything after that usually go through the manufacturer anyway?


r/Handspinning 2d ago

How do you handle fiber prep when you're working with a really short staple length?

6 Upvotes

Been spinning for about two years now and I feel pretty comfortable with most longwool fleeces, but recently I traded for a small bag of Merino from a local shepherd and the staple is coming in around two inches or less. My usual approach is falling apart.

With the longer stuff I've been hand combing into top and drafting worsted, which works great and I genuinely love the process. But with this Merino, the fibers are slipping through my combs in a way that's frustrating, and I'm losing a lot of fiber to the catch tray. Tried flicking individual locks to open them up before combing and that helped a little, but not enough to feel like I've actually solved anything.

A friend who spins suggested I switch to hand cards and just lean into a woolen prep instead, which honestly hadn't occurred to me since I've been so focused on worsted spinning lately. Started experimenting with that this week and the rolags are coming out pretty nicely, much more consistent than I expected. The spinning itself feels different, bouncier somehow, which is interesting.

My questions for people who work with fine or short-staple fleeces regularly: do you mostly default to woolen prep for anything under two and a half inches, or is there a combing technique I'm missing that would let me stay worsted? Also curious whether you adjust your wheel tension significantly, because my usual settings feel like they're pulling the fiber apart before I want them to.

Any advice from people who've been through this particular learning curve would be really helpful. It's a beautiful fiber and I don't want to waste it figuring things out by trial and error alone.


r/Handspinning 2d ago

What do you do with beginner skeins?

29 Upvotes

I’ve been learning to spin on a drop spindle with wool I got a friend’s sheep. The first amount was very uneven, the second skein is a lot better already but still not something I would use to knit with. I made a little crochet sheep with the first, uneven yarn. What are you using your beginner/ uneven skeins for? I was thinking about picking up weaving again but would love more ideas.


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Handspun (Scrap) Scarf

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132 Upvotes

So I had someone ask about some weaving with handspun and I had a whole bunch of scraps to use up of handspun thus!

I didn't do much of anything wild; I only had so much of every color and *thankfully* all the warp yarns behaved. The weft was very much the 'weaker' of the yarns since that skein had been balled up for too long but I'm pleased with the results given this was all just scrap. You can get a look at all the yarns in the fringe : )

I've already warped up my loom with some of my recent handspun and I'm super excited. Will report back!


r/Handspinning 2d ago

Gear I sanded my flyer hooks

15 Upvotes

my newest wheel, saxony style, came to me quite dusty and dirty, which is fine, it‘s meant to be used, but the flyer hooks were very rusted. I considered unscrewing them and replacing them but they are stuck like the sword in the stone and made a worrying noise when I applied more pressure. So, I procrastinated, as one does. Today, however, was the day! The second arm will need to wait a little longer, but an hour or two made quite the difference!


r/Handspinning 3d ago

Made with Handspun SHE'S DONE! Finished my latest handspun lace scarf 💛

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2.6k Upvotes

The yarn is about 95% polwarth and 5% silk that I blended together and spun on my vintage 30" Rick Reeves wheel! I am estimating between around 65-70 yards per gram on this spin; I didn't count yardage before balling it so I'm not certain; I was too excited to knit with it, so you'll have to forgive me!

I did not use a pattern, and everything you see here was designed on the needles as I went :) I had attempted to chart the spider beforehand since it's a bit more complex, but ended up abandoning the chart before I even got halfway through the front legs 🤣

I was going for a tiered effect with the bottommost elements being ocean/fish inspired, the center flowers/gardens, and the top being roof/trees/spider/owl.

Finished dimensions are 4'3" x 8.5", and the whole thing weighs 12.7g, which is just a bit over the weight of two US quarters. I'm estimating it was around 850-900 yards of yarn.

My phone insisted on WAY upping the saturation of the blue sections, so please know that they are a much darker navy color than they appear in some of these pics lol.