I was organizing a little bit around my stashes and realized I had almost forgotten about these.
These spindles have been a challenge for me to spin. I had gotten to the point where I would spin a minute on them and then put them away. The last time I had put them away had to be at least a month ago!
The top whorl is a Purpleheart Golding Tsunami (this is the lighter one-I think about .45 oz). The supported spindle is a Threads Thru Time Russian Spindle. First, let me tell you…as a beginner, spinning on a Russian is a doozy. For me it has been, one step forward, two steps back. I’ve gotten the knack of a Tibetan so far, which I thought would be similar. But this Russian, whew (wipes sweat from brow)! I figure, by the time I’ve completed all this fiber, I should be a Russian Spindling fool. Goodness knows, as slow as this has been, I have tons more fiber to go…which brings me to the other spindle.
I gave this spindle some love earlier. But it didn’t really give me much back, lol! I think this spindle is trying to tell me it’s done spinning this size singles. It is spinning a little longer than it was when I first started spinning this singles. Being a very light spindle (or very light to me), it wanted to backspin more readily than any of my other spindles. It may have been that the singles were a little too thick for what the spindle wants. But, I pressed on. Once I got enough singles on there for it to spin for any length of time though, it was only too soon before I started experiencing other issues.
One, the singles breaks or drifts off. Now, drifting off normally means there’s not enough twist. At the size this singles is, it needs a good amount of twist. It could be that it’s just not spinning enough to get the twist distributed to where I’m drafting. By the time it gets to my knee, it needs another spin or it drifts off. There’s not enough shaft left for a thigh roll, so that’s out. I just have to reach down and snap it again. Then, there’s the breaking. The fiber has been traveling with the spindle for quite some time in a water bottle. It doesn’t draft the same as it did when I first got it, so that could be part of it. I’m spending more time with some bits of it which could cause it to build up too much twist in an area as the spindle keeps spinning, so it breaks.
Two, the singles won’t stay in the notches. Nope, it has a much better time slipping around the top of the whorl and nearly giving me a heart attack trying to get to the ground in one fell swoop. I did notice that if I have the singles coming up from further down the shaft, it tends to stay in the notch. If I wind it up closer to the whorl (where the bulk of the singles are at the largest diameter) and then try to catch the notch, it slips all the time. I think trying to catch it when coming up from further down the shaft gives it the tension it needs to stay put.
This is as far as my logic gets me. Could be right, could be wrong. But with what I’ve got, technically, I could at this point, attempt to change the shape of the cop ever so slightly so that it packs a little more on and continue bringing that singles up from down the shaft. Or I could let the spindle have it’s way…just wind this onto a noste and start the next ball. I’m deciding whether I’m going to let it win or not…Once upon a time, I spun a whole four ounces on a Cherry Golding Tsunami…I can’t imagine this Purpleheart has even 1 oz on it yet. It could at least go two, right? The Cherry is a heavier spindle. It spun long and proud. This Purpleheart is a little finicky. Hmmm….I’m thinking…
I’m thinking I’ll go start my friends’ hat and watch a movie with the kids before bedtime. By the time we’re ready for bed, I’ll automagically know what to do with these spindles. :)
Filed under: Fiber, Handspinning, Spindling Tagged: crafts, drop spindle, golding, handspinning, spindling, spinning, threads thru time
