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pugsweater
Gabber Extraordinaire
452 Posts |
 Posted - 04/21/2005 : 10:15:31 AM
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i've been reading threads on spindles and the more i read, the more i'm tempted to buy one. i've been spinning on homemade CD and wooden wheel spindles. i've so many questions, i dunno where to start. i think i'm a little bit delirious from looking at their website....
my questions are:
i)what spindles do you own and which do you like and why?
ii)do these spindles really spin for a whole lot longer and doesn't wobble? = better than homemade one or is it the spinning skill?
iii)there is so much mention about bosworth and golding...what's their differences - spinning wise.
iv)why do you love your golding so much?is there really such a big diff? (i'm trying to justify spending the $$)
v)how about the others like the turkish, or the acorn tahkli, or the kundert(s) or the schact(s) or the pear tahkli?
vi)am i really going to be blown away with the investment?
i'm about to burst with excitement . all i wanna do is go home and paint my rovings.
but in my other world, i do have a couple of deadlines at work and one last take home exam. it's physics, and i hate it and i dun wanna think about it.
thank you for sharing. you guys are the nicest bunch of people!
<a>href="http://pugknits.blogspot.com">My Blog</a> |
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Lanea
Permanent Resident
USA
5158 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2005 : 08:14:19 AM
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I have a few spindles, some of which I loan to beginnners because I'm not in love with. My favorite spindle is a bottom whirl antler spindle that I love because it's beautiful and spins very nicely. I've heard that Goldings are good because the metal band on the outside of the whorl essentially evens the spin, but I could be wrong about that--I don't have one.
As you become more skilled, you will learn how whatever spindle you are using likes to be spun and how fast to spin it, etc. If you can, try as many different styles as possible. Some spindles spin better once they have some yarn on them--it cuts down on the wobble with some types.
http://crazylaneas.blogspot.com/ |
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RiverRock
Chatty Knitter
USA
283 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2005 : 4:36:15 PM
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My first spindle was one my son won at a workshop I was attending. It was a spindle from Bullen's Wullens. I hated it and gave it up, that was about 9 years ago. Then on one of my other forums we started a spinning 101 thread to get more people spinning. I have spun on a wheel for years and years so I thought Okay I'll give it another try. Everyone was told to get Hands On Spinning by Lee Raven, I already owned it. So I read and read then I realized what I was doing wrong. I was holding my fiber and spindle in the wrong hand. So I tried it her way and OMG I could do it and I liked it. So I went and bought an Ashford top whorl spindle, it isn't the beginner or the larger whorl. It is nice and not very expensive. Then on another retreat my guild puts on we have Rovings come down. They are all friends of ours so Francine comes with a van full of women and fibers. One of their guild members is Ed Tavisak's (sp) wife. She had several of Ed's spindles, niddie noddies, and other things. I bought one of his spindles and that was even nicer than my Ashford. This spring I splurged and bought myself a Golding for my birthday. It is beautiful and it spins well. I want to spin on it more but I don't have the time. It was expensive but well worth it. But I think if you aren't a spindle spinner yet and you worry you may not like it then get an Ashford or some other fairly inexpensive but good spindle. Then if youlike it get something better and so on.
That is my 2 cents worth. |
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Allyn
Chatty Knitter
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:12:08 AM
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Well. you can tell I've been missing for a couple of weeks or I would have answered this long ago. I started with a Louet "boat anchor" and was happy using it although I'd been taught using a Mongold. (The "hot" spindle of the moment. Watch for them on Ebay...they're bringing a mint) Now I have a collection! No Goldings but a Bosworth (yes, they spin beautifully, evenly, etc), and a Grafton Nina (same thing), and a couple of Lollipops (fun but too small to hold much), and a Kundert which I don't like (too heavy and not smooth), a couple from Janet Yost (my best lightweight spindles), ....several more. But to answer your question: Yes, buy yourself a nice hand turned spindle and see how you feel about it. It doesn't have to be top-of-the-line for you to realize there is a difference in the way they spin and what you are able to do with them. Just be warned...one spindle is never enough!
Allyn
Ik hald fan dei. |
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e_looped
Seriously Hooked
USA
712 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 09:21:54 AM
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I bought my beginning spindle from Inspirations Yarn. It comes with fiber and Spin It. It's a good beginner spindle and I'm very happy with it. My first spindle was a handmade spindle to get us started in a class. It was fine for a while but the whorl just didn't stay in place. When I got my spindle from IY, it was such a difference. I couldn't believe the control that I had and how nice and consistent I was able to spin. I will forever be grateful to Martheme for being getting me addicted again. 
I haven't ventured into buying other spindles because I was so focused on getting my wheel. I would say that this spindle is a good gateway spindle that's a step up from your cd spindle.
erica :)
http://erica-lee.org/knit/blog/archive.html
Join the Midwest Knitters' Blog Ring
http://midwestknit.blogspot.com |
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Spinnerella
Permanent Resident
1040 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 09:30:59 AM
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I have a large collection of top whorl spindles in all price ranges, including a gorgeous one made from an exotic purple wood. I never got very good at spindle spinning, but took Judith MacKenzie McCuin's class last weekend at Maryland. I am now a complete convert to LOW whorl spindles! (Hey, most of the world uses low whorl spindles!) I now have two Goldings and love them. They are worth the money, especially since they are easily convertible to low whorl. And they do spin well. As for all the others you mentioned, there are different types for different purposes. If you want to spin rug wool, get a Navajo spindle. If you want to spin lace-weight yarn, get one of the little Russian Orenburg spindles. Here is something that I got out of a little Mable Ross book I picked up at the festival, though, and it was a revolutionary idea when I read it. There should be no excuse for dropping the spindle. (Couldn't have proven that Sunday as the sound of spindles dropping to the floor filled the air!) But, here is the thing....if you let adequate spin build up behind your pinching hand, you won't drop the spindle. Duh. I finally got it. Still trying to explain why I need all these drop spindles AND three wheels to my husband, but....
Marcia
www.spinnerellasattic.typepad.com |
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pjkite
Permanent Resident
1198 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 11:31:52 AM
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I have a brand-new Golding in the 0.6 oz size, and love it. I also have a Bosworth spindle, and it's lovely. A comparison for me and my spindling is difficult right now, since the Golding is my new baby, but here goes. Both are easy to spin, well-balanced and long-spinning. With the same Shetland fiber, the Golding spins all the way to the floor, but Bossie stops between my knee and the floor - not enough difference to matter.
Now to really confuse the whole thing. I have homemade drop spindles made from both small CD's and toy wheels. They perform almost as well as the Golding and Bossies on my usual fine fibers.
As for taklis and Turkish and bottom-whorls - I have all of them, and use them, and like them. Maybe I'm just a spindle slut, but I can't resist a lovely new spindle! I love working with beautiful tools, and am willing to save my pennies to buy them. Time will probably help you collect various types of spindles. Just leap in and begin collecting!
Pamela Kite
East Tennessee
http://fiberlife.blogspot.com/
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ragtimedog
New Pal
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 3:18:26 PM
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Great question! I had only used homemade spindles for ages and finally bought one at the Sheep and Wool festival. Nothing expensive mind you. Just a pretty, bottom-whorled spindle. I didn't find it performed all that much better than mine. Then I read an article in Spin-Off about spinning soft yarn. ( I tend to overspin singles on my wheel.) Well, I went back and tried my home-made TOP-whorl spindle and I LOVE it.
I also tried making a small, support spindle. I was excited at first to see how long it spun without backspinning. But it was so tiny it hurt my hands to work on it. (I'm blessed with giant bear paws for hands....)Gave up when the dogs ate the fimo clay I was using for the weight.....
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Lil
To err is human,
to forgive, canine |
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BessH
Permanent Resident
3095 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2005 : 04:36:35 AM
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I have a Golding, a very small Bosworth and a Kundert and a very clunky wooden spindle of no distinguished origin. I love them all and tend to use the one that is empty at the time.
The Bosworth is very small, with a short shaft, and very light and only spins a long time if I’m spinning fine yarn. I can spin with it when I’m riding in a car because of it’s short shaft. It is very pretty.
The Kundert is also fairly light, though it is both bigger and heavier than the Bosworth. It will spin whatever I want, but it spins the single for a good sport or worsted weight yarn best. It is a beautifully inlaid tool, and watching it spin is hypnotizing. It fits in my purse. I love the point at the end of the shaft.
The Golding is heavier, of course, and it spins anything, from thread to rug yarn. It’s gorgeous. It’s the first celtic knot design - very beautiful and very impressive. It will spin and spin and spin. When people see it they always want to touch it - to comment on it. If I had a big project to spin up I would use it because there is something substantial about it. It seems to be telling me, “Don’t worry, I can handle that.” No matter what I ask of it, it performs.
The heavy clunky spindle is a bottom whorl and the one I learned on. It doesn’t wobble, but it is so heavy it doesn’t spin very long unless I’m spinning very heavy yarn. Nevertheless - I learned on this baby and spun enough yarn with it to make several hats and scarves a long time before I got any other spindles. I still use it - it’s like your first coaster bike - you love it because it was first.
The only thing that is important about a spindle, in my book, is that it be well balanced. If your homemade spindles aren’t - pop for a better one. The next thing on the list of valuable traits is the spindle’s weight. You can spin different size yarns on pretty much any weight spindle - but it won’t be fun. Each weight tends to have a range of yarn thicknesses that come naturally and easily. so if you like worsted weight yarn - you’ll probably like a kundert or golding better than a CD spindle.
Both the Bosworth and the Kundert were in the $30 range were well worth the $. The Golding was more expensive, but it has elaborate carving and the brass ring that gives it such momentum. I think it, too, was worth the $. (Obviously I spent the $.) I suspect you would be so thrilled with any of them you'd think you'd done well with your $. But of course, so much depends on the $ you want to spend. For versatility's sake, if I had only $30 to spend I would buy the Kundert. It's bigger, It will hold more yarn than the Bosworth. But if I had the $ and could pick from among the 3 - I would buy the Golding.
Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress.
Bess
http://likethequeen.blogspot.com |
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lella
Permanent Resident
9697 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 12:22:22 PM
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My first spindle was a bead and straight stick that I made from an elm twig and Turkish donkey bead a friend sent me. I spun up the angora rabbit, of all things, on it and made a slubby and nice yarn suitable for a warm tam. Later, DH made me top and bottom whorl spindles that I used to spin singles that I plied, and a friend brought a fairly nice ashford to me from OZ one year that she was visiting. I liked it but it was a little heavy. Then I got the Golding. My Gosh that thing is beauty on a stick! I also have two little bead spindles for spinning cotton and silks. I guess I like all of them very much, in their different ways but I am buying another, lighter Goldring this month or next just for silk blends and laceweight work because I'm so impressed with them.
Have fun!
lella [img]http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/9971/omelet.gif[/img]
http://zippiknits.blogspot.com/ |
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pugsweater
Gabber Extraordinaire
452 Posts |
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lella
Permanent Resident
9697 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2005 : 11:08:13 AM
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Hi pugsweater, I was hoping someone had one of the Jim Greer's spindles so that they would comment on it. I don't have one but they look great and so do the prices. Since no one has answered, I'll probably go ahead and get a smaller Golding for laceweights, since I like the way my first one spins. I've never seen or used any other spindle like it. I've got a purpleheart wood and will get another as a retirement present to myself.
lella [img]http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/9971/omelet.gif[/img]
http://zippiknits.blogspot.com/ |
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pugsweater
Gabber Extraordinaire
452 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2005 : 12:40:39 PM
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hi lella, check out jim greer's spindles' comments here:[url=http://fiberstream.blogspot.com/]fiberstream[/url] and [url=http://www.limpidity.org/liz/] a stitch in time[/url], in their recent entries. i think these are all very nice spindles. since i can only spend a little at a time, i'm wondering which one to get first.
Pugknits Blog |
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lella
Permanent Resident
9697 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2005 : 2:59:46 PM
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Thanks Pugknits. I've looked some of them over verrrrrrry closely. :)
lella [img]http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/9971/omelet.gif[/img]
http://zippiknits.blogspot.com/ |
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