So weird that you gave us a pep talk because I started really using my drop spindle last night. I'm hooked for sure. Thank you for sharing!

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Yayyyy! Go for it woman! Tag me on instagram if you're there/want to share. :D

Love this video.

Definitely a spinny thing and something to help open up fleece (could be hand carders, combs, dog brush, plastic combs etc). I started spinning four years ago with just a drop spindle and some roving. I didn't start getting seriously into tools until about a year ago when I got my wheel and needed to be able to prep more fiber faster. I agree about having natural fibers and dyes on hand and I love the idea of slowly stash building fiber. You can definitely DIY so many tools. I've made myself two different frame looms for weaving and both were incredibly inexpensive. It's all really all about the individual maker and their needs.

@hannah36912

7 жыл бұрын

Christina Doris, this is almost exactly the same as my spinning journey! I'm trying to talk my father into helping me diying some fiber prep tools.

Very well said. I am still in the beginning stages of my journey. If you remember our chat a few weeks ago, i am still dating my wheel 😊 I am loving fiber more and more every day. I can't wait learn so much more. So grateful i found your channel, perfect timing. Once again, very well said. Great video.

@janatherton9194

7 жыл бұрын

That is a great way to put it. I'm still very much into experimenting with different fibres and the different ratios on my wheel and I love trying out different techniques, just to see what will happen. I have spindles as well as my wheel and I love both the portability of the spindles and the versatility of the wheel, it took me a while to save up for my wheel and the spindles were a great way to try spinning at a relatively low cost. I think they compliment each other. I also have a blending board which I love using as it allows me to mix up my own blends and colours.

@SuziQZ

7 жыл бұрын

Jan Atherton i saved up for a while for my wheel and started on drop spindles 😊I love the drop spindles and i'm trying to love my wheel lol. I am hoping to get a blending board when i finally get the hang of spinning. I'm slowly getting there.

@janatherton9194

7 жыл бұрын

Suzi Q It takes time. My first few projects on the wheel were both underspun, overspun, under plied and over plied all at once, lol! There is a definitely a learning curve.

Thank you Grace for all your wonderful videos. Can you give the reference to the Book of Designs you mention ?

My essentials list would be; a "spinny thing" (which could be as simple as a stick) and wool. Everything else is frosting. Either you can get around the lack of tools by employing other techniques or just DIY it. So many spinning tools are easily DIYable and there are a lot of hacks and plans you can get on the internet. So if you can't afford that $300 thing, hack it. The only thing that isn't DIYable is carding cloth, so any blending tool that uses it you still have to sink some money into but if you can build it yourself it's still cheaper. I made my own blending bord and saved about 50% of the cost plus I have a bigger bord than most others on the market.

@jasonreeve661

7 жыл бұрын

Fern Moore we have a sheep farm nr us so we can get lots of free fleece once a yr. and i have made 2 drop spindles that cost me under £3

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Amen woman! Hacking for the win! I will say however that finding heirloom tools has been really helpful in some areas because the mechanisms are just so much better when skilled hands craft them. But better here is subjective because I personally credit my "out of the box" perspective to (my aspie self?! haha!) using 100% DIY tools for the first couple of years. I had to hack and manipulate everything because my budget was so small. Like dollars.

I think that spinning is a craft that can offer deep rewards and creativity whether you spend a lot or next to nothing on your tools. I've been spinning for a very long time, and have amassed quite stash of tools and materials, and I am NOT a professional fiber artist, my profession is teaching visual arts K-5. I do have studio space in my home, where I share my time between fiber arts and mixed media, with everything from oil paints to art quilting to fiber blending processes, spinning and hand weaving. I can say from experience that I use all of my hand spinning tools, because of the research I put into them before purchasing, and I would add that you should purchase the best quality that fits into your budget that you can, even if you have to save a bit longer for it. There is nothing that gives me more creative leeway than a well stocked studio where I do not have to stop the creative flow because I do not have what I need. It takes time to build your nest, so enjoy each addition!

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Totally agree! I especially agree that you are more likely to use and adore tools that you research and that are the best for your budget. Really tools made by skilled hands DO have a special quality of use that DIY's don't usually. I also am right there with you that a stocked studio with several different mediums is a creative playground. That's why I recommend people build by colour rather than by project. I would be so stifled if I only had supplies earmarked for specific projects.

I started off with over 3 lbs of raw white alpaca. regular plastic combs from the dollar store. I found a twelve pack for a dollar. two dog brushes from a store online. A drop spindle and a quill wheel from heaven spun on etsy. For dyeing I started with food coloring and kool aid. Later I added citric acid but I still use food coloring.

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Yessss I totally started like that! (see comment below) My first fiber was also raw alpaca. Needless to say I refuse to touch it anymore. I did too many rounds of Spin a Pound get a Pound with horrific alpaca. Eeekkkk my fingernails hurt just thinking about that vm O.o Food colouring is remarkably effective! I need to upgrade to citric acid I think...

@1crochetgoddess1

7 жыл бұрын

Grace Shalom Hopkins Oh the vm. ..... Funny thing is my stash still consists of mostly alpaca and I've managed to find lots of pretty clean ones although I must agree they are quite filthy little cuties. My fav is cria which happens to be the filthiest....lol. I do love love love wool too though. But I like my wool slightly greasy and I am still like you exploring all of the different breeds. So exciting! So far Cormo is the best! Oh and Falkland for roving.

Hi, thanks for the film. Please could you guide me towards how to find a direction for my goals? I know they would need to follow the S M A R T , guidelines but I'm a bit daunted where to start. I've been spinning for about 2 years now and I think I could do with some structured direction. Thank you 😊

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Oooo I want to do a whole video about this! I saw your comment right away and have been pondering it. Expect a video some time soonish. But for starters: Ponder what your why is. Why do you spin? That will guide you from here until that why changes. Everything should be filtered through your why. For a made up example: Your why could be that you spin for mental health, it's meditative. Okay so mental health. You're right away going to avoid spin that make you want to scream and yell, for me that is raw alpaca... Next you're going to want to choose materials that make your heart sing. Maybe you're a spin to weave girl, consider choosing a goal like "I want to really master handspun handwoven shawls" because shawls are like hugs. That's tied back into your why, it's a goal. It's open ended enough you can really play in it, but it's also descriptive so you know when you've reached it. You're not leaving yourself much bunny trail room. If you knit socks you know you aren't currently working on that goal. You're only hitting that goal when you're working on handspun, handwoven shawls. So within that you might want to research fibers that may bring about the qualities that reinforce your mental health. Perhaps colours. Sparkle. Techniques. Do smooth semi-solids work better or maybe there is a delicious freedom in locky bulky? I could go on :P

@mariejohnson5428

7 жыл бұрын

Grace Shalom Hopkins Thank you for replying so fully. I'm off to ponder my why, this might take so mind mapping as I'd not really thought of why. Thank you 😊 🐏🐑🐏

tool shaming :D i use a forked small branch cut to look like a hock. a small one to make my singles then a bigger one to do my plying. I lay my fibers on a cloth so it wont slip so much lairing it in thin lair and make teeny tiny rollags. I have so much fun and the yarn i get looks great. What i am thinking i want to spend some money on is a pair of hand carders. One day maybe.

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

This is totally how I started! I used a crochet hook from a thrift store as a spindle and used the ugly shag carpet in my parent's basement to act a the "velco" of carding cloth so I could make little faux rolags. Giggle! I love it! A wheel was my first investment then a drum carder then a blending board. Now several years and three wheels later I'm thinking I need a fancier wheel. I started with a babe because it was all I could afford but the spinning variety on it wasn't awesome. Then I had a loner CS1 that was great. Then my Louet that you see here.

Research question: Would you recommend a Brother 120 TPI drum carder for Alpaca?

@quiltstuff454

7 жыл бұрын

I recently purchased a brother drum carder. I got a 72 TPI. It works fine for the alpaca, I run it through 3 times and it make very nice batts. If you want really fine batts get a 90 TPI or 120 TPI. I also spin wool and it works great for that too. I love it!

@GraceShalomHopkinsFiberArt

7 жыл бұрын

Linda is spot on with her reply. Grace at Brother also has lots of great wisdom if you want to call her directly. I don't usually try for super fine so my 72 is fine, like Linda said, with multiple passes. The drawback for 120 is that it's going to really only work well with super fine fibers. 90 is a good medium to smooth cloth. 72 can handle bulk. If you never do chunky stuff but also don't want to limit yourself to exotics, hit a 90. But if you really only do exotics, grab the 120.