How to Start Spinning Yarn: A First-Wheel Guide
By the end of this guide, you’ll have a skein of your own yarn. Set up the wheel, get a feel for the treadle, practice the drafting action on ready-made yarn, then move on to fiber. Take it one step at a time.
Ashford’s Learn to Spin booklet is written around its Kiwi 3, and it’s the one to keep beside you. On another wheel, your own manual comes first for setting up.
What you need
- A wheel, and a moment to learn its parts: treadle, bobbin, flyer, orifice, threading hook, drive band, brake band and lazy kate.
- About 50 g (1.5 oz) of wool sliver.
- A 1.5 m (5 ft) length of medium-weight yarn for the leader, and a 10 m (30 ft) length for practice.
- A chair, and a niddy noddy for making the skein at the end.
- A drop of oil at the points your assembly instructions show.
If your wheel is a kit, assemble it first. The Kiwi 3 assembly instructions ask you to read them from beginning to end before you start.
Spinning on a wheel, step by step
- Set the brake band. Turn the tension knob until the springs just begin to stretch. Too tight and the yarn may break and the wheel gets hard to treadle.
- Set the drive band. Place it over the largest groove on the flyer whorl and the smallest groove on the wheel. Use only enough tension to drive the flyer and bobbin without slipping; too much makes treadling harder.
- Attach the leader. Tie the 1.5 m (5 ft) leader firmly to the bobbin so it can’t slide around the center.
- Thread the leader. Pass it through the yarn guide on the flyer arm, around the cup hook, and out through the orifice with the threading hook.
- Practice treadling on its own. Turn the wheel clockwise by hand, then treadle slowly with a heel-and-toe action. Stop and restart until it feels comfortable.
- Wind on the leader. Hold the leader and turn the wheel clockwise three times, stopping with about 50 cm (20 in) left in front of the orifice. Check the springs are only just starting to open.
- Join the practice yarn. Make a loop at the end of the leader, take the practice yarn through it, treadle slowly clockwise so it joins onto itself, then feed it into the orifice.
- Practice the drafting action on yarn. Pinch the yarn between index finger and thumb of your front hand. Relax the pinch slightly and slide your fingers back toward you; the twist follows. Pinch again when the twist has traveled down the yarn.
- Adjust the brake. If yarn won’t feed in, increase the brake tension a little. If it’s pulled from your hands or breaks, reduce it.
- Start with fiber. Pull some fibers from the end of the sliver, take them through the loop and double back, and treadle slowly clockwise until a light twist forms around the leader.
- Draft and spin. Pinch with the front hand, gently pull fibers back with the back hand, slide your pinched fingers back and let the twist follow, then feed the yarn into the orifice. Repeat. Don’t draft longer than the fiber’s staple length.
- Join in more fiber. Treadle slowly, hold the spun yarn in your front hand, place more sliver alongside, and let the fibers catch and twist in. Pinch in front of the join and draft on.
- Fill the bobbin evenly. As yarn builds up, stop, squeeze the yarn guide and slide it along. Do this often. Tighten the brake slightly as the bobbin fills.
- Change the bobbin. Remove both bands, release the flyer from its bearings, swap bobbins, then replace the bands and check the drive band is aligned.
- Ply two singles. Ashford recommends a strong, balanced two-ply. Put two full bobbins on the lazy kate and an empty one on the flyer, then treadle slowly counterclockwise, using your fingers to separate the singles before they twist together.
- Make a skein. Loosen the brake or drive band. Wind the yarn over the upper cross piece and under the lower cross piece of the niddy noddy until it’s all on. Tie the hank in four places with scrap yarn, then slip it off.
And Ashford’s hint for a first run, the one to keep in mind: “Uneven yarn is OK.”
Starting on a drop spindle instead
To begin on a spindle, Ashford’s one-page student drop spindle instructions have you tie a 1 m (40 in) leader to the shaft, spin the spindle clockwise so the leader joins your fibers, then slide your fingers up the drafted fibers so the twist follows. Wind the yarn into a cone and repeat, or ply two with the spindle turning counterclockwise.
Further reading from Spin Off: Learning How to Spin Yarn: Spindle vs Wheel.
Common first problems
Ashford’s booklet has a troubleshooting section for these.
| What’s happening | What to try |
|---|---|
| Yarn pulled out of your hands | Reduce the brake band tension until the springs are just starting to extend |
| Yarn won’t draw in | Increase the brake tension; check the bobbin turns freely and the orifice is clear |
| Wheel hard to treadle | Reduce the drive band tension; it should have about 25 mm (1 in) of bounce |
| Yarn overtwists and won’t feed on | Treadle slower or draft faster; around 60 RPM is a comfortable speed |
| Yarn breaks | Treadle a little faster, draft a little more fiber, keep pinching and sliding |
| Wheel walks away from you | Treadle downward rather than away from you; spin on carpet or a rug |
Further reading from Spin Off: Learning to Spin? Avoid These 5 Mistakes.
Your first 3 projects
- A plied skein. Spin two bobbins of singles, ply them counterclockwise, and wind a hank on the niddy noddy, as in steps 15 and 16. Ashford calls the result your first hank of handspun.
- A drop-spindle cone. Spin one cone of single yarn on a student spindle, following Ashford’s sheet, then ply two cones if you like.
- A sample card. Ashford’s booklet says the speed of your treadling or hands varies the twist. Here’s a suggestion: tie a short length of each practice yarn to a card and note what you changed, so you can find your way back to the yarn you like.
Made one of these? We’d love to see it.
See it done
Spinners and makers on YouTube.
- Beginner yarn spinning, spinning wheel: Kromski Prelude lesson 1, from Christi Dea. On a Kromski wheel, so follow your own manual for setting up.
- The Spinning Wheel Adventure Begins! First Spin on my Kromski Eco Fantasia, from Rachel is Knitting.
- How to spin chunky yarn, from Ashford Wheels and Looms.
FAQ
Do I need a drop spindle before a wheel?
Not necessarily. Ashford publishes instructions for both a student drop spindle and its wheels. Further reading from Spin Off: Learning How to Spin Yarn: Spindle vs Wheel.
What fiber should I start with?
Ashford’s booklet starts you on about 50 g (1.5 oz) of wool sliver, and says silk, linen, cotton and many animal fibers can also be spun on its wheels.
Why does my yarn keep breaking?
Ashford suggests treadling a little faster, drafting a little more fiber, and pinching and sliding your fingers to keep twist out of the undrafted fiber.
Which wheel should I get?
It depends on the yarn you want to make. Ashford’s booklet is written around the Kiwi 3. To compare others, find your wheel, starting from what you want to make.