Starting out help!

[FeeSewBug]

Hi, I got felting wool from college and I'm worndering if this can be spun into yarn, I had a little look into it ages ago and I'm wondering what I would need to start.
I quiet like the idea of producing a thick yarn, would this be possible?
Could you suggest a few inexpensive things to get me started?
Cheers
Fee

[natashafatale]

In general, wool is wool, so you can use felting wool for spinning. You'll need a hand spindle or spinning wheel and the basic knowledge of how to draft, which you can study on youtube videos.

How much do you have? Felting packets are usually small, and the thicker the yarn, the less yardage you'll get out of it. What you have will probably be enough to practice on and learn a few things, but I would definitely recommend buying wool that has been prepared for spinning (in the form of roving, sliver or combed top) if you decide this is something you want to stick with.

Good luck!

[SewMamaLady]

I definitely spun up lots of felting wool from Hobby Lobby when I started on the spindle a few months ago. It's rough and scratchy, but it worked for sure. The little packets are pretty expensive, but I've used them too. I pretty much refuse to buy the little packets if they're not on sale for .99 because it feels like too much of a rip off. I've got some stashed away for add-ins though.

[FeeSewBug]

Cheers for your help, this is what my wool looks like. would i need to card it, or is it okay to start spinning from that?

[SewMamaLady]

Heck yeah you can start spinning with that! It's roving and you just start from one end of it. You can even split it if you're confident enough.

Some of my favorite videos are from rexenne. http://www.youtube.com/user/rexenne

This is a great video too, this is what I learned on. Megan is great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gXTWgMeMgI

There are tons of great links for spinning here on Craftster too. I got my first spindle from Nesse in STS actually. So the Craftsters here I give so much credit to for teaching me how to spin. You can make your own CD spindle, it's SO cheap and easy. Definitely lookup mullerslanefarm's posts. She gives tons of fantastic tips!

Do you have something you're learning on?

[SpecialKRJ]

I recommend making your own spindle, just because it's that much more awesome to know that everything you make, you've made from absolute scratch. I made mine with a truck wheel instead of a CD, but I'm going to make a CD one too, just to see how it spins. But I'd definitely recommend a quick trip to JoAnn's or Michael's for some little dowel rods. I found a bag of 8 dowels, 3/8" x 12". They were right next to the wooden truck wheels, which fit perfectly after a bit of sanding. ^_^

Out of curiosity, was there a felting class or something at your college from which you got the wool?

[FeeSewBug]

I got a bag of mixed wool for dry/wet and needle felting at college, this is what I have left.

I was thinking of getting a top whorl spindle, I'm wanting to make a thick yarn, sadly we don't have a joanns!!

Cheers for all your advise!

[SewMamaLady]

Do you have a hardware store? You can sometimes get dowel rods at the hardware store. I got mine at Lowes but Wal-Marts and other places have them too.

[mullerslanefarm]

 My DH has made most of my spindles, putting a groove on both ends (for a half hitch) of the dowel rod so I can use them as either a top or bottom whorl.

For a thicker yarn, you'll want a heavier spindle. No, you don't need to buy another spindle.  I hoofed it down to the local hardware store and found this 'thingee' that fit over the rod and tightened with a rubber hex screw.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  The 'thingee' is below the whorl on the 2nd spindle.  The 3 spindles on the right are hand made.  The one at the far left is an Ashford Student spindle ... quite heavy. 

[shadowemblem]

dat pink colour yarn iz so pretty!

thankz 4 postin' & sharin'
-Ivy