Giving Drop Spindling Another Go

**If you are looking for info about the podversary GIVEAWAY, check out Episode 24 on Youtube** Come celebrate with me!  🙂

I’ve been spinning since 2015–on a wheel. When I first made the move to fiber, I was often told: ‘oh, you don’t need a wheel at first, just try a drop spindle! It’s cheap and easy to see whether you like the craft before you invest in a wheel!’ And I tried! But, every time I picked up a drop spindle, I promptly dropped it on the floor.

I know, it happens to everyone. Truly, I do know that the drops of drop spindles are part of the process; it would be weirdly amazing if one could pick up a new craft or tool and use it perfectly the first time round! But, I also didn’t know what I didn’t know: that there really are different spindles and size does matter. Along with fiber to spindle match.

Thankfully, three years in, I finally had a true lesson from Debbie and Sue. It involved a silk hankie–which was a process in and of itself!–but mostly, it involved Debbie handing me a mini (under 25 gram and less than 9″ long), top whorl, center-weighted drop spindle. I hesitated, remembering all of my fails in the past. But then, I tried. And it was amazing. Perhaps it was the number of years and spun skeins between now and then, perhaps it was the right spindle for the right job, but I’d like to think it was mostly the friendly, good-humored, and excellent teachers whose patience was infinite. [THANKS, Debbie and Sue!]

I felt like a super hero. I was sent home with a small spindle and some roving. And I now know that my main problem (besides being a new spinner) were my tools: huge, weighty, bottom whorl spindles used with a mismatch of fiber. Sigh. If only all lessons were this easy to learn and all ignorance was this easy to correct 🙂