[Fleecewife]

Plying over chasms ?  This should be interesting - hurry up and mend your cursor Sally 

[Lesley Silvester]

FW, it is horrible.  I haven't dared try knitting yet  in case it's another thing I can't do, which is silly really, especially as I am sick to death of sitting and reading or palying games on the computer all day.  My rheumatology nurse said that the hope is that I will be back to how I was before the Rheumatoid Arthritis hit me and the blood tests suggest that the drugs are doing what they should but I don't feel any better yet.  I hope you do have some improvement.

SITN, that happened to me the other day, I'd just PMed someone a really long catch up message and it all went.   

[SallyintNorth]

Sorry I've been off air a while, will try to reproduce the lost post.

Guilds and spinning groups are usually great - full of helpful people who will love to help you get started.  Find your nearest Affiliated Guild here    If all too far or otherwise unsuitable, there are probably other local spinning groups - ask in your local yarn shop if they know of any.  And/or there'll probably be a spinner or two are members of one of your local knitting groups.  And/or look/ask on Ravelry.

Re: supported spindles, I was just wondering if this would suit Lesley better than a drop spindle.  I haven't yet used one myself but I've seen them used.  They're being studied in A Spinner's Study on Ravelry - the thread is here

Park and draft - you can do this sitting down, holding the spindle up above your lap so if it does drop it only drops into your lap.  Basically you leave a few inches of yarn above the whorl, twizzle the spindle and capture the twist in the yarn you already have, then park the spindle between your knees or under your arm and draft fibre, allowing the twist into it until you think it's time to add more twist or it'll break.  (This is much easier to judge if you have already spun on a wheel, but you'll get it pretty quickly even if you are starting with a drop spindle.)  Add more twist, park and draft again until your arm isn't long enough  , wind on and repeat.

There is a good video on this but I can't find it right now.     Sorry.

And finally, to inspire us all, Cecilia spindling over the crags    

There were three articles published as part of Wovember, featuring Cecilia; the plying over the crags pic was in the second.  I loved them all so will include those links here too. 
Working with wool part one
Part two
Part three

[Fleecewife]

Thank you Sally, I really enjoyed reading about Cecilia and her work  .  I love the idea of spindle plying over a drop, as otherwise you don't have time to get any rhythm going - but you must be able to do that butterfly winding around your hand very quickly to get the spindle back up before it unwinds - presumably why it's not much use for the initial spinning.  I have heard of people spindling from their roofs, but the same thing must apply.
What a prolific spinner she is - wonderful  and such beautiful lustrous yarns.  I love the Bluefaced Leicesters 

[SallyintNorth]

Thank you Sally, I really enjoyed reading about Cecilia and her work  .

I knew you would 

There are always several of her skeins for sale in the Wool Clip in Caldbeck, if you ever get the chance to go there.  Truly inspirational.

[Cheviot]

Hi,
Omg, Sally, what a small world, in another life, Cecilia was my landlady, I lived on a dairy farm  , on their estate, with my then hubby, the crag she is standing on in the pic was actually one of our fields, I hadn't any interest in wool and fibre back then, how I wish I lived near her now!!!!  .
My drop spindle arrived today, I have to say it is a thing of beauty, the wood it is made of and the way it has been turned, anyway it arrived with a handful of wool already started on the spindle, the yarn that was on it was so fine, it could have been used for sewing, so after having watched a youtube clip on how to do it, I had a go, well the first bit I did was about 10 times thicker than what was already on the spindle, so I tried drawing it thinner, to the point at which I didn't think it could hold the spindle, but it did, and my yarn was almost as thin, although it wasn't as consistantly thin there were a few slightly thicker sections, but I'm wondering if I'm spinning it to much, as when I take the tension off, it sort of all twizzles up on it's self, it is however very strong, I tried to pull a length off and there was no way it would break.
I think I'm hooked  , only problem now I've used all the wool, until some I've ordered arrives.
Regards,
Sue

[Lesley Silvester]

Thanks for this, Sally.  I'm going to have to look into spindles a bit more.  I didn't realise there were so many different kinds.  When I was first taught, more than thirty years ago, the spindle had its whorl on the bottom.  I bought a spindle and wool at the Smallholders' show in Wales and that has the whorl at the top.  I just couldn't get to grips with it at all, but the lap one sounds ideal.

The photo of spinning on the crag turned my stomach.  I could never stand so close to the edge.   

[SallyintNorth]

Wow, Sue - sometimes those coming-around-again things in life give one a shiver! 

Your yarn sounds absolutely brilliant.  To get any kind of continuous thread at all on your first go is very very good; to get something you can control the thickness of is outstanding    The twisting back on itself when you release the tension is exactly what it should do - if you look at the twisted yarn it makes, that's how that single will look when 2-plied.  Spinners often do this with yarn they are spinning to check that it's still looking how they want it; Cecilia keeps a snippet of what she is producing next to the wheel / spindle so that she can compare what she is spinning and make sure she is keeping it consistent.

You're hooked