More Spinning With a Drop Spindle

Here is my latest attempt at spinning yarn.  It turned out much better than my previous two attempts, but far from perfect.  It has a lot of thick and thin but the yarn is not as bulky as my first two attemps.  There are also some spots that are a bit twisty from being over-spun.

I used the roving I had dyed with Kool-aid and I really like how the colors turned out.  It reminded me of the honey spiced peaches I canned last week.

With my first two yarns, I made some bulky hats.  Once the weather turns cold, they should be nice and toasty warm.

I'm going to pick up more fiber and I especially want some of the brown.  I have some more hat projects in mind to try.

Attempting to Spin With a Drop Spindle

This last week, I went out and bought a drop spindle and some roving.  The one I bought was $22, much less of an investment than a spinning wheel. (Also way smaller and no complicated moving parts)  Here is my first sorry attempt at spinning.  Looks more like dreadlocks than yarn.

This is my drop spindle with some brown fiber I making into dreadlocks yarn.

It's not the most frustrating craft I've attempted, but it's right up there.  Soldering is #1 on my frustration scale, and #2 is throwing on a potters wheel.  Right now this is at #3 on my frustration scale. 

Ive been watching various Youtube videos on spinning with a drop spindle, particularly this one:

http://youtu.be/rPUORvO-GZE

But I think, I can only get so much from watching a video.  I think I need a live human to help me with this.

I've found a local class I'm planning to take to learn how to use the drop spindle.  There is also a beginning spinning wheel class.  The only thing is, I need a wheel for the class.  I would like to find something to rent - I sure have no clue what to buy!  I'll have to see how that goes.

And some more Kool-aid dyeing.  This was white roving that I dyed with yellow food coloring, and lemonade, orange, black cherry and grape Kool-aid. Hopefully it will end up as yummy yarn and not rope or dreadlocks!