[Fleecewife]

It looks as if there's an old 'rise' partway up the staple.  For the ping test, or twang test or whatever you name it, take out a small bundle of fibres, hold each end in opposite hands then pull apart sharply close to your ear.   If you just get a soggy sound then there is a break, if it makes a firmer sound then it might well be strong enough to spin the whole lot.

I would though cut out the matted, felty bit and only use that scrummy looking clean bit 

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks, Juliet - I was going to come back and explain the ping test, but you beat me to it.

The cleaner part of the staple looks good from the pic.  Very Chevioty . I like Cheviot, it's a very well-behaved fibre, and takes dye well.

[Fleecewife]

Now I am released from only spinning fibre from my own sheep, I just might buy a sneaky Cheviot fleece    It is after all a breed fairly local to me..........should be easy enough to find a breeder with good quality fleece 

[SallyintNorth]

Now I am released from only spinning fibre from my own sheep, I just might buy a sneaky Cheviot fleece    It is after all a breed fairly local to me..........should be easy enough to find a breeder with good quality fleece 

[member=28984]mowhaugh[/member] has some black NCCs, some of whom have delicious fleece.  We span some last year for the Tour of British Fleece; one of our very experienced spinners described it as being 'like spinning kittens'.  You might have to be quick, though, I think either Edinburgh or Dumfries Guild go and buy her whole clip now

[SallyintNorth]

Oh, and we've had some superb Cheviot from the BWMB depot at Galashiels.  I'm not sure if they let you just rock up and rummage, though; we've always done it as part of an organised tour, when they are very happy to let spinners rummage and shop at the end.

[CarolineJ]

Well, not that I've got anything to compare it with, but it doesn't sound soggy.  I shall give it a go later 

[SallyintNorth]

If healthy it should sound almost like a twang.  Sometimes a sad lock makes a sound a bit like rustling a crisp packet 

[CarolineJ]

Okay, so you all knew I wouldn't be able to wait until this evening before trying it, didn't you??  First ever go at drop spinning (aren't YouTube tutorials a wonderful invention??).



How do you stop it untwisting when you eventually take it off the spindle though?

[SallyintNorth]

That's brilliant for a first attmept!

Are you planning to make a two-ply, balanced yarn with it?  Or are you wanting to use it as a single?  If the former, once you've got it plied, it won't unravel because it will be balanced.  If you want to keep it as a single, either leave it as a a cop until the energy leaves it (about a week should do it), or skein it straight away and wash it to set the twist.  In either case, I put a half-hitch in the end of the yarn, which keeps the end tidy.  Or some people use a bit of sellotape.

[CarolineJ]

It's got serious lumps in it further up, I picked the most even bit    No other intention than teaching myself the basic technique, so I guess I'll keep it as a single.  I've got the free end jammed under the stapler on my desk at the moment!  Daft question alert, can I take it off the spindle for the 'leave it for a week' option?

[Fleecewife]

If you get a Turkish spindle, it magically makes a centre pull ball as you spin and wind it on.  To unload it you can pull out the spindle stick bit, then pull one arm out from the other and hey wow - you've got a ball of yarn.  I mostly only use a Turkish spindle now as they are so convenient.  Also there are some beautiful examples out there, all weights and a whole variety of woods.  (I wouldn't buy an Ashford one though as they are too heavy and clumsy.

From an ordinary drop or top whorl spindle, you can unload your spun yarn by winding it into a ball by hand.  If you're good with your toes you can hold the spindle steady with your feet as you unwind.

I'm most impressed with your sample - you're clearly gifted 

[CarolineJ]

Thanks, I'll give it a try later 

At the risk of sounding a *total* dippy hippy, there's a small possibility it may be some kind of past life memory/access of the Akashic records (pick your theory of choice!).  I remember reading a description of someone using a drop spindle in a history lesson at school when I was about 8 or 9 and wondering how I knew what it was going to say.  When I tried spinning for the first time ever with a wheel a few years ago it was a total disaster, but when I was following the YouTube tutorials earlier with the spindle, I was sitting with it thinking, 'Hang on, no, I don't do it like that, I do it like this,' and it felt like something I hadn't done for a long time rather than something I'd never done before, if that makes sense.  Weird 

[SallyintNorth]

I was surprised that I took to spinning and weaving so strongly.  And then my father told me we had weavers in our ancestry,

[Fleecewife]

Before the invention of the spinning wheel, just about everyone used to spindle spin, going back for centuries, millennia even, so it's likely we all have some kind of racial memory of that.  It's like growing plants and food - second nature.  I don't think you need any other-worldly influences, just racial memory and nimble fingers.  Also, spinning is pretty obvious once you've spent 3 minutes thinking about it.  What I find puzzling is how anyone invented how to process nettles, flax and other vegetable fibres for clothing and mats - there's nothing intuitive about that that I can see 

[CarolineJ]

Need to find somewhere other than the office floor to keep the steadily-growing pile of washed fleece!!