Learning to spin yarn on a drop spindle

An excerpt from the book Homegrown Linen: Transforming Flaxseed into Fibre.







This document was created as part of the Homegrown Linen kickstarter and is a PDF of the instructions included in the Learn to Spin Flax kits.

I give this tutorial 9.5 out of 10 acorns! I found it really helpful when I got my spindle through Raven's kickstarter. I watched some youtube videos, and those were nice, too. But having this handy tutorial was great because I could really sit and process the information at my own pace, and take my time staring at how the illustrations. And, as I starting spinning, I was able to go back and re-read the descriptions look at the illustration and understand what I was doing wrong. Speaking of illustrations, they are fantastic, too! They are highly detailed, at great angles, and also beautiful. I only wish it told me what to after I spun the yarn, or at least what search terms to use for the next step in spinning. But, this is a tutorial for spinning yarn, not finishing it, so it makes sense that it doesn't include that. Maybe we'll be so lucky, and Raven and Tracy can make more tutorials (maybe for future kickstarters) on the rest of the yarn-making process!

I have taught this for fun to children, with dog wool!

I have also seen women using this spindle in Peru, and it takes no time, as they actually do it while doing something else such as walking! Yes, they have their hands working exactly as people making a jumper while watching tv....

Hands working alone!

That makes it worth while as it takes no extra time. But how many years of experience and what if we start "old"?