You want to become a handspinner, and you've chosen a spindle or spinning wheel. What other tools—besides spinnable fiber—will you need to get started?
Basic Equipment
- storage bobbins for plying—even if you're using a drop spindle, you'll want cardboard spools, small weaving bobbins, or spinning wheel bobbins to hold yarn before it's wound into a skein
- a lazy kate for plying. The Tensioned Lazy Kate works with any Schacht drop spindle or spinning wheel; the Ladybug Lazy Kate installs directly on the Ladybug spinning wheel.
- a niddy noddy for removing yarn from a bobbin and skeining
- a swift for winding yarn into a skein
- a yarn gauge for measuring wraps per inch (WPI). You can use a stiff ruler or you can find purpose-made gauges in a wide variety of styles.
- scrap yarn for leaders on the spindle or spinning wheel bobbins
- a dish pan or sink, dishwashing liquid or wool wash, and extra towels to set the twist in your handspun yarn
- a record-keeping system for notes, photos, and yarn samples
Wheel spinners will also need
- an orifice hook to pull yarn through the orifice—Schacht wheels all include one
- spinning wheel oil
- additional bobbins for the regular flyer—you can never have too many bobbins
- whorls in additional sizes—a new wheel comes with fast and medium whorls
- extra drive bands for your wheel
The wheels Schacht currently makes—Flatiron, Ladybug, Matchless, and Sidekick—can all use the same orifice hooks, bobbins, flyers, and whorls.
Adding To Your Toolkit
Wheel spinners may want a Bulky Plyer Flyer or Bulky Front Maiden to spin very bulky yarns or art yarns.
Hand carders allow you to prepare your own fiber. You can open up fleece or locks with a flick carder. With a pair of carders, you can blend colors or different fiber types into rolags.
You can estimate the yardage of a skein by counting loops on the niddy noddy or swift. But if you have trouble keeping count, try a Yarn Balance and a kitchen scale.
Finally, invest in some books or spinning classes. Once you can create yarn that holds together, it's great fun to play with drafting methods, colors, and textures. You might enjoy prepping raw fleece or dyeing your handspun for the ultimate one-of-a-kind yarn. Handspinning allows for unlimited creativity!