Ask Jillian! – PLY Magazine

Dear Jillian,

I have been spinning for a year on my Ashford Traditional, and I want to buy a second wheel. What should I consider before I buy one? ~Margaret

Getting a new wheel is exciting, but it can be overwhelming. Here are factors to consider before adding to your flock. Note: I’m specifically addressing treadle wheels here; e-spinners will be discussed in an upcoming month.

Your budget

Wheels can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, so it’s good to know the range of your budget before you start hunting. It’s also good to know that if you fall hard for a wheel, your budget may get tossed out the window. Groceries, who needs them?

Your current wheel

Have a good thinking spin with your current wheel. What do you like about it, and what do you want to be different about your new wheel? It always helps me to make a handwritten list when I’m puzzling through wheel ideas.

Your future wheel’s setup

After your thinking spin, make a list of the attributes you want for your new wheel, such as the number of treadles, the drive system(s), wood or 3-D printed, new or used, antique or modern, upright or saxony, and the range of yarns it can spin.

What you spin and what you want to spin

Keep in mind the types of yarns you like to spin and the types of yarns you want to learn to spin. Are you moving into art yarn spinning? You’ll need a bigger orifice. Interested in spinning very fine or cotton yarns? You’ll need a wheel that can impart lots of twist.

New vs. used

A used wheel may save you some money, but it may need a bit of adjustment, parts replacement, or at least a day at the wheel spa. A new wheel comes with support from the manufacturer and usually a warranty.

Interested in an antique wheel? Are you handy or do you know someone who is?

If you are considering an antique wheel, chances are you will have to do some repairs. Some spinners buy antique wheels because they like how they look and they are usually inexpensive. A $200 flax wheel may be lovely and quite they deal, but you may end up spending several hundred more getting repairs done and more bobbins made.

Adjustability and accessories

Some wheels can be set up in multiple drive systems, and some have a wide selection of ratios. These wheels might be more expensive, but you will be able to spin a wider range of yarns. As part of your investigative work, check out the accessories available and their cost. I am always surprised at how expensive bobbins are, for example.

The aesthetics

This is not a small thing: you have to like how your wheel looks and how it fits with your home, lifestyle, and general vibe, or you won’t use it.

Your body

Do you have any disabilities you need to consider in regards to your wheel? Are you developing arthritis in your joints (me!)? Are you tall or short? Think about your body and choose accordingly.

For example, I have a spinning friend over six feet tall, who was spinning on an Ashford Joy, a very short wheel. She had almost given up on spinning because it was so uncomfortable for her. When I watched her spin, hunched over with her knees nearly hitting her chest, I could understand why. I convinced her to buy a Matchless, and she’s been comfortably spinning ever since.

Will you travel with your wheel?

An Ashford Traditional only travels easily in a car. Do you want to travel with your wheel? If so, you might consider a travel-specific folding wheel or an electric wheel. (Don’t forget to add in a carrying bag to the accessories options.)

Your spinning friends

Your spinning friends are the angels and devils sitting on your shoulders. They might try to convince you to buy a certain wheel because they love it, or you might want the wheel everyone in your spinning group has. Our friends’ smiling faces are so persuasive (even enabling). Ask them questions about why they like their wheels, but try to make your own decision.

The good news is if they have a particular wheel you are interested in, you likely can borrow it to help your decision.

There is even better news. If you decide to search for a used wheel, tell your friends, far and wide. They can help you hunt for your wheel and can even arrange a spinning wheel train to get your wheel to you from across the country.

Can you try the wheels you are considering?

This may be the most important factor along with budget. I wouldn’t buy a wheel I haven’t tried. Even a quick spin, at a shop or in a booth at a fiber event, will tell you a lot.

When you try the wheel, have whoever is helping you give you a tour of the wheel, and try to spin with fiber that you like.

Have I ever bought a wheel without trying it? Yes. I have made every stumble on this list when it comes to wheels, more than once, but I end up selling those wheels pretty quickly.

Have fun researching and hunting your next favorite wheel!

Jillian

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Ask Jacey and Jillian Your Questions!

How do you get yourself to practice other styles and structures of yarn? I learn to do something new and then just go back to my default yarn. I want to make new yarns!
Eleanor, Ithaca, New York

Hi Eleanor,

It’s sometimes hard to get yourself to practice new things. For me, I find it comes down to comfort – I love spinning my default yarn! It’s also some combination of not being sure what to do, wanting my new yarn to be perfect on the first go, and being overwhelmed by all of the possibilities.

Here’s how I encourage myself to practice and experiment with new things.

Make it enjoyable

Use your favorite fiber and color and use your favorite wheel. These things will make the spinning more pleasurable, but you also know exactly how these things behave, so you don’t have the added layer of figuring out a new or finicky fiber or using a wheel that you may not be able to adjust on the fly.

I also pick something that I’m excited about to watch or listen to while I’m practicing. A TV show, podcast, or book that I only watch or listen to while practicing will get me to my wheel and my new yarn. A bonus to this is it also naturally sets a time limit; working on a new yarn regularly for smaller bites of time, happily spinning, is better for learning than sitting at the wheel for hours and hours exhausting yourself.

Make a plan

Have an idea of what you’d like to spin, and be sure to make it smallish. I find it’s better to make a plan that has several yarns that are building blocks to a bigger goal. Even better if it’s tied to something else you are already excited about or are expanding on.

For example, I want to get better at spinning a worsted yarn consistently at a variety of sizes. That’s a giant and kind of amorphous goal. It’s not a goal that will get me running to my wheel. But if I shift it into a series of yarns tied to other things I want to do or am already interested in, I get excited to spin.

Two yarns are at the top of my worsted spinning list this winter: 1) a fingering weight yarn (smaller than my default) out of a soft short-stapled fiber (a challenge to keep consistent) to make a Sophie Scarf (not a huge amount of yarn and a cozy project for winter), and 2) a low-twist worsted yarn to experiment with grist (a long-time obsession) – I’m looking for the lightest worsted yarn I can make.

If you tie your plan to a very specific yarn or pattern it will motivate you even more.

Make notes

I talk about this a lot (it helps me to remember to do it too): figure out a way to keep notes on your spinning and keep track of your goals and experiments. You will learn so much about your spinning!

Keep notes on fiber, prep, draft, wheel setup, ply, and finish for each of your yarns. Then make your yarn into a swatch in whatever craft you are working in, and evaluate your outcome. Make more notes on what worked and didn’t, suggest adjustments, and dive in for another sample. Keep repeating the process until you have the yarn you want.

Is it weird that when I’m learning and experimenting, I’m excited for my yarns to be not quite right? I learn so much more from a yarn that went off the rails when I go through the evaluate–adjust process.

I like to tell my students, if you want to be a better spinner you have to make a lot of crappy yarn.

Make it public

Tell your spinning friends about your plans and goals; they will cheer you on the whole way. Chances are someone in your spinning group will be really good at what you want to do and give you tips.

Watching other spinners spin the type of yarn you want to make helps too: friends, students in class, YouTube videos, and if you are a member of the PLY Spinners Guild, you can watch a variety of teachers do their thing.

Everyone spins a little differently; a room full of spinners making a 3-ply, worsted, fingering weight yarn will be a room full of different techniques – no one will have twist between their hands, but they will hold the fiber and draft in their own unique way, and seeing that always helps me tweak my own spinning style for the better.

Jillian

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