Every spinner will create yarn that just doesn't work, and even experienced spinners have bad spinning sessions. Let's say the yarn won't hold together, or it's overspun (you see little corkscrews in it), or it's not nearly as soft as the unspun fiber.
If you're making yarn that has problems, first try some simple adjustments to your spinning wheel. It's much easier to adjust the wheel than to change how your body moves. Once we master the basics of spinning, we usually find a happy place where our feet treadle at a certain speed and our hands let go of the yarn in a particular rhythm. It can be hard to change these physical habits—you might want to treadle faster for a particular spinning project, but unless you're thinking about that speed every second, you're likely to fall back to your default speed.
Adjust Take-up
take-up/tension/draw-in: how quickly the yarn draws onto the spinning wheel bobbin. With higher take-up, the yarn will draw onto the bobbin more quickly, giving you less time to draft and less time for twist to build up in the yarn.
- When you're desperately clutching yarn to keep it from disappearing into the orifice, or when the yarn falls apart, the wheel's take-up is too high.
- When the yarn doesn't draw on to the bobbin, or it kinks and curls like a pig's tail, the wheel's take-up is too low.
It's easier to tinker with take-up in Scotch tension mode, and all Schacht wheels can use a Scotch tension spring and string. Usually a quarter-turn of the Scotch tension peg will be enough. Turn the peg to stretch the spring for higher take-up, or turn it to compress the spring for lower take-up.
When the take-up is just right, the yarn will not zip out of your hands or sit limply in front of orifice. As it winds onto the bobbin, you'll feel gentle encouragement from the wheel rather than a tugging sensation.
It is possible to stretch the spring too far, so that the spring and string prevents the bobbin from spinning on the flyer. If your yarn has too much twist, go back to the sweet spot where yarn draws on gently and try switching whorls or grooves.
Switch Whorls For More or Less Twist
Schacht wheels ship with two whorls and you can buy up to four more sizes, from extra slow to super high speed. Each whorl has two grooves. All these options give you more ratios to choose from.
- When you have take-up set correctly, and your yarn falls apart, the fiber isn't getting enough twist. Use the small groove on the whorl, or choose a smaller whorl.
- When you have take-up set correctly and your yarn kinks up, the fiber is getting too much twist. Overtwisted yarns become more dense and they often won't feel as soft as lower-twist yarns. Use the large groove on the whorl, or choose a larger whorl.
Ply the Singles
Spinners usually create singles yarn with Z twist, where the flyer rotates clockwise. They then ply with S twist, where the flyer rotates counterclockwise.
- Let the singles rest for at least 24 hours; twist energy will relax and the twist will distribute through the skein.
- If you've spun an overtwisted singles, try plying it. Reversing the direction of spinning will remove some of the excess twist.
- If you're plying and the singles won't wrap around each other, the flyer is moving in the wrong direction. Z-spun singles do not like to be plied Z—they will fight instead of embracing each other.
- If you overtwist or undertwist when you're plying, put the bobbin on a lazy kate and run it through the wheel again. Remove twist by going in the opposite direction or add twist by going in the same direction as the first round of plying.
Set the Twist to Smooth Out Kinks
- Fill a sink or dishpan with lukewarm water and add a few drops of dish soap or wool wash. Let the skein soak for 20 minutes. If you used dish soap, gently rinse the skein and set up another lukewarm bath with a few drops of vinegar.
- Gently squeeze out excess water—don't violently twist the skein. Then roll the skein in a towel and let it sit for about an hour to soak up even more water. Hang to dry, or whack on a hard surface to increase the skein's fuzz and then hang to dry.
Use the Yarn for a Different Purpose
You can spin with a specific project in mind, or you can decide on a project after you spin the yarn. Both approaches work! It's also fine to spin for a project and then change your mind. Play to the strengths of your handspun skeins: all yarns have a purpose.
- Yarns with more twist can stand up to high tension in weaving, so they're great for warp. For knitting or crochet projects, use these yarns for projects that need stitch definition (cables) or that get a lot of wear, like sweaters or mittens.
- Yarns with less twist can work beautifully as weft for your weaving. Knit or crochet them into projects that don't take a lot of abuse, like hats or scarves.
Resources
Beginning Spinning on a Wheel, online course taught by Stephanie Flynn.
Beyond Your Default Spin-along, free online course taught by Stephanie Flynn.
Anderson, Sarah. The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs.