I’ve had my eye on a Turkish spindle lately. Once I discovered that you can create a center-pull ball around the spindle “arms” without having to wind it off — just pull the full ball of yarn with the arms up and off of the shaft, carefully slide the arms out, and you are left with a ball of yarn! All that needs to be done is to merely match two ends and ply the ball back on to the spindle, I realized this was going to be a time saving change to spindling for me. The Turks are brilliant I tell you! I was frothing at the mouth to try one, so I got a hold of one, and these are my very first windings on my brand new spindle, and I have something very special in mind in my spinning future that involves an array of spindle spun little yarn dyed balls, which I won’t probably even attempt for a while, but this spindling is just the perfect thing needed for me to slow down process and get meditative.
Besides, I love the way you can just park them anywhere. When finished with a ball or two, I will post and show the process. This rather large spindle is made from maple, it is extremely beautiful in my opinion, as maple is my favorite hardwood. And then the focus shifts to the background; which appears like Juno is again, chewing on a stick! She is stick obsessed, and may the “stick’ never be my spindle. I don’t think she would though, she’s a very good girl.
I realize I haven’t posted Juno for a while. She’s almost a year and a half, and lately maturing just a little bit out of her puppy behaviors. She’s lingering at the porch waiting for me to finish this photo session so we can go for more spin walking. Its very hot out this morning, as well as a haze from distant fires is present, and so many little flies this time of year that are so annoying, but just going for a spin-stroll walking back and forth in the shaded part of the road next to the house so I can figure out how to use this thing. C’mon Juno, you’re a good girl!
Jenjoyce Design 
Such a good girl, Juno, and such a beauty.
I just posted about the heat, smoke haze and annoying flies cutting the spin-stroll a little short. Do you have those flies down at your cabin? xx
Yes. A LOT of flies this year and gnats. I thought perhaps it was just down around me with all mountain lion activity around Aarondel. Only now, after 2 solid weeks of skunk smell is it finally fading.
Yeah, the little gnat-like flies, as I was outside this morning strolling while trying to get the hang of spinning on the Turkish spindle, the flies were swarming on my hands. I guess the fleece I was spinning was slightly greasy, and had a little sheepy odor, that’s probably why. Hard to spin and at the same time shake your hands to shoo the flies away… lol. xx
Frustrating!!
I don’t have a Turkish spindle but I do have both a top and a bottom whorl which I purchased at a yarn show. My problem is that now that I’ve discovered the spinning wheel I haven’t picked them up. My question is this…When you can spin so quickly on a wheel what makes one choose to spin on the spindle instead? I follow Jillianeve on YouTube, a serious spinner. She’s forever going back and forth on her many wheels and spindles. How do I choose? Also, your yarn is so thin. How do you spin like that without the yarn breaking or being over spun? I look forward to more spinning blogs.
Virginia, it was the same for me, once I got a spinning wheel there was no reason to pick up the drop spindle. And I did learn to spin on a drop spindle, but the wheel was a thousand times more of a production tool. I really hardly ever spun on the drop spindle, and probably won’t a lot. However, all the same, its nice to work on technique, and I kind of got smitten over the idea of walking and spinning, watching how the Peruvian herders do it.
As for fineness, to me the fiber seems to always be what it wants to be, and I’m not really that good of a spinner at all, though the only way I seem to be able to control the fiber on the drop spindle from breaking these days is to really slowly feed the wool or fiber, twisting more in fact the thinner the yarn. A spinner told me once that for fine yarn, the answer is in lots of twist, then more twist. Well okay that makes sense because its all proportional it seems to me. I find that I can’t spin consistently fine singles, like for sock yarn, to save my life on a spinning wheel (and the reason I was experimenting with UnSpun!) at least not with woolen preparation which is what I’ve kind of gotten hooked on, and so I got to thinking trying out the spindle, just for getting up out of the chair more, my biggest problem in life at this time is I am way too sedentary, getting fatter by the year. Just trying to move around more, and although spinning on the wheel is definitely a workout, knitting while walking, spinning while walking, is just something that appeals to me, strolling in the early hour outside is so pleasant with Juno just tearing around the place. I think now that you have your wheel going, you’re going to spin constantly, and get fine singles and everything, really soon! I’m super proud of your results already!!! :claps wildly:
xx
Yes, I discovered JillianEve very recently, and she is fun, and does it all!
I think my most recent discovery of Soulful Spinning is a good find, have you seen her podcast?
https://www.youtube.com/c/SoulfulSpinning