Knitting

Highly tempting, but I already worked entirely too hard on it to not turn it into something I can brag about excessively and at length 🤣

I love her videos!! I was dying all the way through that one, though- she really decided to start on hard mode! I think she addressed this, but most spinners start with a drop spindle, which gives you so much more direct control than a wheel. For another thing, most of us spin wool top which comes with all the fibers nice and aligned in a uniform direction. Wool fibers also tend to be longer and more coarse, which helps them stick together with less twist and makes it much more forgiving when you're finding the balance between too much and not enough twist. Flax has no chill 🤣

Thank you!! I'm so obsessed with the way the colors laid out across the side of the cake!! Not sure I'll ever find the will to actually commit it to a pattern lol

I haven't, what is that? Google's only showing me a Motown group lol

Oh no! I thought about trying to create one, but I honestly don't have time to moderate and wouldn't want to take it away from someone who does. Definitely let me know if you do manage to get it working!!

It depends if you can source the wool cheaply. If so, it's about £40 for a drop spindle and some carding paddles. Otherwise, you'll have to also factor in the costs of the fibre. Costs add up as you progress, of course... a spinning wheel would be your next big expense

The way I started was actually by going to my LYS's celebration of World Wide Spin in Public day which falls on the third Saturday in September! But all you really need is a drop spindle and some fiber!

(Disclaimer: I am in the US, so this is all based on what's available here and all monetary values are in USD.)

A basic starter spindle should run you between $15 - $20, but they're actually really simple to DIY if you prefer. My first spindle looks like someone assembled it in a craft store (which, honestly, they might have), but it gets the job done!

As for fiber, my favorite places are The Spinnery Store (I buy directly from their website, but their fiber is on Etsy under slimchicken) and BlueMoonAlpacas on Etsy, but any combed top roving will do. Corridale wool is my favorite, but most of what you'll find for cheap will probably be Merino. A lot of it will be in 4 oz braids, but 1 oz is plenty to start.

After that, I'd highly recommend JillianEve's Drop Spindle for Beginners video on YouTube! She has a wide range of spinning tutorials and guides and does a great job of explaining things!

Admittedly, I've never processed my own wool before, but I do know the combed top roving I generally use is subject to a pretty long cleaning and preparation process. I know that the first thing to go is the natural body oils of the animal as well as any barnyard debris that might carry bacteria. Dyed wool, like what I've used here, is also bleached first to remove any natural variation in the color of the wool that might interfere with the dye color. The difference between dyed combed top roving and wool yarn you'd find at the store is one water bath to set the twist. I found this site detailing the process here: Processing Wool to Yarn

If you're still concerned about it, there are vegan alternatives, such as bamboo or flax fibers out there! I get a lot of my supplies from thespinnerystore.com (not affiliated, just a fan) and they stock a fair few alternative fibers.