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Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild: Preserving the Ancient Art of Handspinning 

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by Ron Tyler 

In the nineteenth century, the Genesee County area in upstate New York had many individuals spinning wool and flax to provide textiles for their families and for the barter system that provided many goods and services. Spinning was done on great wheels and saxony wheels that many pioneers brought with them across the state from the New England states. The main purpose was for clothing and to supply linens for their daily lives. Nearly every household was spinning for garments and weaving for textiles. 

Upstate New York saw many heritage breeds of sheep, which were the main source of their spinning fiber–producing animals. Many farms in upstate New York also had many acres of flax growing. There were approximately 46 thousand acres of flax produced by families in upstate New York. That process was labor intensive to get linen for clothing and bedding. 

In 1985 a small group of like-minded individuals formed the Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild. They had the tenacity and skill to develop their craft. The guild mission statement was to preserve the ancient art of handspinning and to educate themselves and the public on the history and skill of spinning fibers into yarn. Their skills expanded not only to spinning but to weaving, crochet, and knitting. In reality, it birthed a generation that used fibers for many arts and crafts today. 

The spinning guild became the launching ground for many to become modern sheep farmers and mill owners to process wool. They educated many to work in textiles and in local museums to preserve that history. I, like many others, are the products of those wonderful individuals who formed the guild and educated their members in spinning, weaving, and the skills necessary to be successful spinners of wool, flax, and other fibers. 

The early years of the guild saw many natural-colored sheep wool and fibers. The dawn of color and dyeing fibers brought many skills to spinning. Many spinners saw the creations of colorwork sweaters, garments, blankets, and many socks and shawls. This led into indie dyers and the frenzy of color in the hands of skilled spinners. 

In 1995 the guild created The Finger Lakes Fiber Festival held at the local fairgrounds. This yearly festival ran for 25 years, eventually growing to offer over 80 venders and to attract thousands of people. This festival included many opportunities for demonstrations and educational classes. We have since scaled back and now offer The Shepherd’s Wool Market, which is a smaller event. We continue to offer demonstrations and educational classes to support our mission statement. 

Our guild programs have been focused on the skills needed to be successful at individual endeavors, teaching skills in drafting techniques, fiber preparation, spinning wheel maintenance, and use of color. We have incorporated a sheep breed study that has delved into the breeds available and their uses for different textiles. We are gradually building our knowledge on the use of color, especially how to manipulate color at the spinning wheel with braids and the use of stash wool with parallel drafting techniques. We continue to strive and provide education for our members and the public. Occasionally our monthly meeting will consist of us sitting and spinning as a group with no agenda. 

The Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild continues to this day, recently celebrating its 40th anniversary. We continue to be like-minded individuals preserving this ancient art of handspinning. Modern day spinning provides many guild members yards of yarn. Spinning provides a sense of pleasure, joy, therapy, and self care to the modern spinner, our guild members among them. 

The challenge that the guild faces is bringing this craft to the next generation. We are using our collective experiences to encourage and refresh the guild’s presence in the next generation. 

Ron Tyler, a retired nurse, is president of the Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild. He has been spinning for close to 20 years and is an avid collector of antique spinning wheels. He is also a historical interpreter in textiles at a local museum with an expertise in the history of flax. 

Are you part of a fiber guild with a great history or a guild that is doing truly innovative work?  We want to know about you! 

Submit your proposal here!

Meagan Condon

By the Books: Using Older Texts to Inform Our Modern Understanding of Fiber 

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By Meagan Condon 

I love the smell of old books. It is a smell that goes nicely with the smell of fresh fleece and hot coffee. My perfect afternoon would probably involve pivoting between scouring a fleece, one small bag at a time, and curling up in the living room next to a stack of old non-fiction books. 

There seems to be a lot of crossover between book people and fiber people. It is part of why I spend so much time researching fiber arts. I love to play with fiber, but I am always looking for deeper meaning about how and why it behaves the way it does. 

Right now, thanks to my local library, Sheep and Man by Michael L Ryder, an 856-page tome – and I do mean tome – published in the UK in 1983, sits half-read on my nightstand. Published more than 40 years ago, this book is touted by some to be the definitive work on the history of the domestication of sheep – which is interesting, considering it isn’t in publication and used copies are so rare they go for more than my car payment. 

Version 1.0.0

Definitive is a dangerous word, to me. It gives us the illusion that knowledge is finite and unchanging, neither of which is true. New science comes along and answers questions we didn’t have answers for, which changes our understanding of things we thought we knew. In the handspinning community, we are particularly at risk of thinking that the knowledge and history of the craft never changes. It worked 500 years ago, so it should work the same way today. 

The truth is, as soon as something is published, it is outdated. As a general rule, I approach any text older than 10 years with this fact tucked neatly in the back of my mind, and as I read, I question just about every fact that I don’t already have a clear understanding of (and even some facts which I do). 

For example, Ryder points out that the proteins in sheep and goat wool are different, which indicates they likely diverged evolutionarily before they were domesticated. This made me curious – did more current microscopy and DNA analysis support this? So I set my book down, picked up my tablet, and began to research the difference between goat and sheep hair proteins. 

In my further research, I learned that wool and cashmere are primarily made from keratin, the same protein our hair and nails are made from. However, they contained different keratin-associated proteins (KRTAPs) and the arrangement and amount of these additional proteins was different. 

In fact, KRTAPs not only differed between ruminant species but also proved to be a determining factor in how fine, strong, and flexible a fiber is within a breed of sheep or goats. 

This gave me additional information in support of what Ryder said four decades ago. Ryder didn’t have all the answers, though it would have been easy for me to just accept his word on the matter. After all, he was the expert! That said, his voice wasn’t able to give me the full picture of how goat and sheep hair differed. What it gave me was the right questions to ask. 

An hour and a half diversion from my book, a fresh cup of coffee, and 4 tablespoons of wool wash later, and I can finally move to the next paragraph, page 19. I’ve got a long afternoon ahead of me. 

References 

Li S, Xi Q, Zhao F, Wang J, He Z, Hu J, Liu X, Luo Y. “A highly polymorphic caprine keratin-associated protein gene identified and its effect on cashmere traits.” J Anim Sci. 2021 Sep 1;99(9):skab233. doi: 10.1093/jas/skab233. PMID: 34370022; PMCID: PMC8442941. 

Ryder, M. L. (2007). Sheep & Man. Duckworth. 

Zhang C, Qin Q, Liu Z, Xu X, Lan M, Xie Y, Wang Z, Li J, Liu Z. “Identification of the key proteins associated with different hair types in sheep and goats.” Front Genet. 2022 Sep 23;13:993192. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.993192. PMID: 36212123; PMCID: PMC9539809. 

Zhanzhao, Chen & Cao, Jian & Zhao, Fang & He, Zhaohua & Sun, Hongxian & Wang, Jiqing & Liu, Xiu & Li, Shaobin. (2023). “Identification of the Keratin-Associated Protein 22-2 Gene in the Capra hircus and Association of Its Variation with Cashmere Traits.” Animals. 13. 2806. 10.3390/ani13172806. 

Guest Blogger

Third Thursdays Guild Tips

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As we ramp up for tonight’s PLY Spinners Guild Third Thursday foundational spin-in, we’d like to take a moment to feature some tips from one of our wonderful PLY Guild spin-in leaders, Terri Guerette. 

What should I bring to a workshop? 

Although not something to bring to a workshop, one of the reminders I often offer to people taking my workshops is to make sure your tetanus shots are up to date. We work with a lot of sharp tools that are sometimes used on raw fleece. So we really need to make sure we protect our health! 

There are a lot of factors to consider when taking a workshop. How long is the workshop? Where is it being held? But the most important thing is to pay close attention to the class description for the items you should be bringing to class. If there is anything in the description that you are unsure of, please don’t hesitate to contact the instructor. 

My next recommendation is to make sure your items are clearly marked with your name since many of us have the same or similar equipment. 

Beyond that, you can consider bringing a myriad of things, including but not limited to a repair kit with the items you may need for your specific wheel; documentation supplies (notebook, pen/pencil, labels, bags); and personal care items (hand sanitizer, snacks, water bottle, throat lozenges). 

Last but not least, it’s usually a good idea to have one or more of your shawls/sweaters with you because workshop environments can be quite varied. Besides, it’s so much fun to share the things we’ve made with our friends, old and new! 

For a more in-depth discussion of this topic, see: 

“The Ultimate Spinning Toolbag,” PLY Magazine (Winter 2017): 44–48 

“Power Learning,” PLY Magazine (Autumn 2018): 34–37 

Also, if you haven’t already seen the news… 

Season two has begun!  
The first episode of the second (worsted) season has dropped and is ready for your viewing pleasure! 

  • Four spinning segments  
  • Three teachers: Maggie Casey, Heavenly Bresser, and Jacey 
  • 2 hours of spinning content 
  • Jacey has included a new intro to the guild (which you should totally watch, it has lots of new info) 
  • And two teacher teas (from last year) for the teachers in this episode (which if you haven’t seen them yet, they’re delightful) 

It’s a great episode filled with lots of worsted drafting, and it will get you ready for everything else we’re going to do this season.  

Also a reminder! Sunday, April 20 there will be no guild spin-in! 

This is Easter Sunday so we’ve decided to not hold the spin-in, but don’t worry, we’re going to make it up with a fantastic giveaway at the next Sunday spin-in. (Remember when we spent that whole spin-in looking at a fancy new carder? Well…) 

Emily Davis-Hale

Ask Jacey: How Do I Improve My Joins?

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I’ve heard lots of people talk about how there are different joins for different kinds of spinning. I’m not even super good at the one join I do (I kind of tease out the fiber at the end of my new yarn and then lay new fiber over it and hope it all gets twisted together when I start treadling again). Is that a good join and are there better ones? Will you cover these in the guild? ~Melanie, PA, USA

Dear Melanie,  

Joins are something many spinners struggle with, so you are absolutely not alone. There are several different types of joins and lots of ways to do each of them. What you want to learn (and practice) is a good join for the types of yarns you spin (and yes, we’ll cover every join imaginable in the guild).  

Before I get too far into different joins and how to do them, I want to say this to newer spinners: Don’t let this get in your head. If you’re new to spinning and you are getting any join to stay together, rejoice and keep spinning. Joining can be hard at first (I promise it will get easier, automatic even). Come back to expanding your joining repertoire later, when you’re comfortable and ready. This is not something you must know right now. Okay, for Melanie and anyone ready to work on joins, here we go. 

Different joins for different yarn 

I’m not sure what kind of yarns you spin, but maybe you spin enough different types of yarns that one join doesn’t suit them all. If you sometimes spin woolen and sometimes spin worsted (or even sometimes semi-woolen and sometimes semi-worsted), you’ll want a join for each of those. After all, a woolen yarn is fuzzy, airy, and lofty, and you probably don’t want smooth flat spots at each place you had to join new fiber (which you’d get if you use a worsted join on a woolen yarn). Conversely, a worsted yarn is smooth, lustrous, and dense, and you don’t want a fuzzy, airy, matte spot standing out wherever you joined, right? 

Things that are true for every join 

  • You are always joining fiber to fiber, never fiber to yarn. If you don’t have a bit of fiber opened at the end of the yarn you’re spinning, stop and tease a bit out. 
  • Your new fiber and old fiber should not act like they are new or old. They should act like the same fiber, as if they’re all from the same fiber source.  
  • The area of yarn with the join should be the same diameter as the rest of your yarn. If that’s not possible – and we’re not machines so it’s often not – it should be thinner than the surrounding yarn. Twist goes to and stays in thinner areas of yarn, so if the area with your join is thinner, it’ll hold together better. If it’s thicker and your join isn’t perfect, it won’t hold.  

A worsted join  

I’ve seen worsted joins done so many different ways, but a few things should be true: 

  • Allow no twist between your hands 
  • Smooth and compress fibers after you make the join 
  • Keep both the old fiber and the new fiber under equal tension 
  • Do a short forward draft during the join, even if you’re otherwise spinning short backwards 

As long as you do those things, your worsted join will look just like the rest of your worsted yarn. The key now is making sure your worsted join is secure. That key is mostly in those last two points plus the points that are true for every join – equal tension, using a short forward draft, joining fiber to fiber, treating the new fiber like the old fiber, and making the area of join the same or a thinner diameter. I made a short video to show you what I mean (remember that this is just one type of worsted join; there are others).

A woolen join  

I find woolen joins to be a bit easier than worsted joins. Woolen yarns are more grabby than worsted yarns and also not quite as picky. There are several ways to do a woolen join, but they all have a few things in common. Those things they have in common are the things that make these yarns woolen instead of worsted: 

  • Let twist between your hands 
  • Don’t smooth the fibers 
  • Don’t compress the fibers; leave that air in there 

As long as you’re doing those three things, you’re making a woolen join that won’t stick out in your woolen yarn. But just like the worsted join, you also want to make sure it’s secure. Since woolen yarns are a little more in chaotic than worsted yarns, the process for making a join is less specific. You just need to get the two fiber sources together, thinking they’re one, and introduce twist to them. My favorite way to do this is to take the new fiber and fold it around the last little bit of yarn I spun (making sure there’s some unspun fiber at the end), draft it forward or backwards just a bit, letting the fibers catch, then continue drafting. It sounds easy because it is! I made a short video of a woolen join here (again, remember that this is just one way to do a woolen join).

Experiment and find your joins 

So that’s it! But not really, right? These are just guidelines (and one video example of each join). As long as you follow the guidelines for each type of join, experiment and see what works for you. You can still tease your fiber end out and then lay them together. In fact, that could be the start for either a woolen or a worsted join. Just make sure that the amount of fiber you have teased out won’t twist together and make a bulkier section in your yarn. 

From there, you just have to change what you do next to fit the yarn you’re spinning. If it’s woolen, let twist enter those two teased-out sections without straightening them out or aligning the fibers. Resist smoothing your hands over the join (I say resist because I always want to). If it’s a worsted yarn you’re spinning, you do want to straighten out those teased fibers and keep your hands surrounding the fiber, one in front of what will be the join and one behind it. Slowly let twist enter the two fiber sources that are teased together, smoothing and compressing as you also start to draft again.  

It might feel like a lot of things happening at once, but that’s the nature of spinning, right? Everything is happening all at once but you’ll get it, and don’t worry if it doesn’t work the first time – it’s only two inches of fiber, so just break it off and start again. That’s the beauty of spinning. We make it inch by inch, and if we’re unhappy with a particular inch, it’s just an inch. 

Good luck, 

jacey 

Emily Davis-Hale

Mood Board: Summer 2026 – Purpose

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Mood Board: Summer 2026 – Purpose

Proposals due by: June 1, 2025

Final work due by: December 1, 2025

Although spinning up a gorgeous skein of yarn seems like a project in and of itself, ultimately most handspun yarn is used to create something else. So how do you spin with a purpose in mind? We want to hear about it! 

What crafts do you use your handspun yarn for? Knitting? Crochet? Weaving? Embroidery? Macrame? Rug making? Mixed media art? Each one can have specific needs for the yarn, and we want to explore those qualities in this issue. 

What makes a yarn a good knitting yarn? What are some changes in that yarn to make it better for crochet? Does it make a difference if you’re using knitting needles, working on a knitting loom, or cranking a sock machine? Does Tunisian crochet have the same yarn needs as crochet? 

What about weaving? What are the qualities that work best for the warp vs the weft? Do you want to use different yarns if you’re using a rigid heddle loom vs a table loom? What about tablet weaving? 

Do you use handspun for embroidery or visible mending? What kinds of yarns work best for those crafts?  

When you have a specific project in mind, what kinds of questions do you ask yourself before you start spinning? How do you determine what characteristics a yarn needs? What are those characteristics? From the technical (twist per inch, ply structure, wraps per inch) to the yarn qualities (drape, shine, warmth, sturdiness, loft), how do you know what decisions to make? 

What about repurposing? Do you use recycled materials in your spinning? Have you used handspun yarn to upcycle or modify something already made? 

Tell us about your spinning community. Do you have a group that spins for a cause or a charity? 

What about tools? How have you used something else as a spinning tool or used a spinning tool in an unusual way? 

And this issue wouldn’t be complete without some patterns. We’re always looking for knitting, crochet, or weaving patterns, but we’d like to see an embroidery pattern or another craft pattern for our readers to make with their own handspun. 

Proposals are due by June 1, 2025. You’ll hear back from us in July 2025, and final articles are due December 1, 2025. 

Submit your article idea now!
Meagan Condon

Sneak Peek: Spring 2025 – Hue!

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You may have already received your digital or print copy of the Spring 2025 Hue issue! We aren’t going to lie – we got caught up in staring at all the pretty colors, so this is less of a preview and more of a post-view, since you might already have it in your hands. Still, we wanted to share about it! 

This issue marks an important milestone for PLY:  it’s the first issue produced by our new editor in chief, Karen Robinson. Love the cover? You can thank Karen! Karen has been with PLY for more than a decade, working her magic behind the scenes. Now it is her time to shine! Don’t worry, Jacey isn’t going away. She is stepping up to produce both PLY and WEFT magazines and the PLY Spinners Guild, huge jobs for her as well! 

Are you a fan of natural color? Lee Langstaff, the co-chair of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, gives us a taste of color genetics. She has spent over twenty years developing a full range of natural colors in her own flock at Shepherd’s Hey Farm and knows a thing or two about what makes a great fleece.  

Charan Sachar, who specializes in art yarn and fiber-inspired pottery, shares an experiment with color and texture. With the same dye colors and the same structure, he creates several different yarns which each have a different look and feel. These yarns are simply to dye for.

Jessie McKitrick gives us an article about choosing colors for Fair Isle knitting and shares a beautiful pattern called Spring Bloom Mitts.   

And there is so much more, but we don’t want to spoil it for you!   

If by some strange occurrence (maybe Mercury was in retrograde, we don’t know) you haven’t ordered your issue, you can buy it here.

Guest Blogger

Rose Gray Alpaca Fiber Study

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Rose gray is one of the most mysterious colors present in the alpaca fleece color range. It is a color comprising three shades – light, medium, and dark – which can be imagined as coffee with varying amounts of cream added. The hint of rose is most noticeable in medium rose gray but is a magical characteristic of all three shades. Let’s unravel a bit of this alpaca color mystery with a fiber study!

A light rose gray alpaca named Bo, photo credit: Karen Campbell, Hilltop Splendor Alpacas, Moody, TX.
A medium rose gray alpaca named Ruger, photo credit: Camelid Corner, LLC
A dark rose gray alpaca named Bandit, photo credit: Camelid Corner, LLC

Light rose gray
Gray predominates in light rose gray. It reminds you of fog or of a ghost, with an otherworldly pink hue. On the animal, it looks like a rusty gray cloud until you open the fleece. When spun into yarn it looks slightly darker, but not in a heavy or unpleasant way.   

Medium rose gray
Jaw-droppingly beautiful, medium rose gray is the pinkest shade of rose gray. The pink blush only becomes more pronounced when spun. Alpacas with medium rose gray fiber often have adorable faces with brown eye patches and gray-white bodies frosted with brown. As a yarn, medium rose gray fiber stands out with an ethereal look. 

Dark rose gray
Dark rose gray is the moodiest and darkest of the rose grays. It has lots of black fibers with sun-kissed tips. On the alpaca, it reminds you of a chocolate truffle, lightly dusted with powdered chocolate on the outside but a midnight black on the inside. Because of its depth, this fiber likes to be the star of its own show as a yarn.   

Raw locks, L-R: Light rose gray, medium rose gray, and dark rose gray. Photo credit: Jacqueline Harp.

Prep tips
If you get a whole alpaca fleece, the color is usually not uniform throughout the fleece, and this is especially true of rose gray.  Do not be afraid to lay out the entire fleece and break it apart according to like colors. You then have more options on blending those portions for your desired outcome. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the rose grays are easily confused with dark silver gray, but a true rose gray will have brown, white, and black fibers. Dark silver gray will have gray, black, and white, but no brown fibers. 

Can you determine softness by color?
Unfortunately, color does not determine softness. Softness comes from age, genetics, feed, and environmental factors. You cannot trust your eyes when evaluating a fleece for softness. When in doubt, spin a small sample. Test that sample against tender areas of skin, such as wrists or neck. Keep in mind that what may be soft and comfortable for you as yarn may strike someone else differently.   

Handspun yarn samples, L-R: Dark rose gray, medium rose gray, and light rose gray. Photo credit: Jacqueline Harp.

Blending tips
Not only can you blend any or all of the three shades of rose gray together, you can also blend in any other alpaca fiber color to lighten or darken the shade. Because rose grays are so rare, think twice before shifting colors by blending. To brighten your rose gray, add white or brown. To achieve the opposite effect, add gray or black. I always recommend blending in small increments before committing to making a large batch.   

Dyeing tips
Of the three shades of rose gray, light and medium are the most suitable for dyeing. The higher percentage of black fibers in dark rose gray causes colors to be absorbed rather than highlighted. The results are dull, muddy shades. In contrast, light and medium rose gray pop with color and richness when dyed due to the presence of white and brown fibers. Imagine jewel tones, and you will understand how dyeing medium rose gray will look.   

Spinning tips
It is worth diving into all three of the rose gray shades. As with any handspinning colorway, be sure to buy enough for your project. Even if the rose gray comes from the same farm, the shade will vary from animal to animal and year to year. 

Jacqueline Harp is a freelance writer and multimedia fiber artist who spins, felts, weaves, crochets, and knits in every spare moment possible. She is also a former certified Master Sorter of Wool Fibers through the SUNY Cobleskill Sorter-Grader-Classer program. Her Instagram is @foreverfiberarts.  

Sending a special thank you to the folks at Camelid Corner, LLC (https://camelidcorner.etsy.com) for providing fiber samples and beautiful rose gray alpaca pictures for this article. Their dedication and care for alpacas is incredible.   

Jillian Moreno

Book Review: The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible by Debbie Held

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The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible: From Woolen to (Nearly!) Worsted and Everything in Between

by Deborah Held
Stackpole Books
$32.95, hardcover 8.2 x 10.1 with 136 pages
Published: April 1, 2025
Buy now at Bookshop.org
Review by Jillian Moreno

I’ve noticed that spinners are more interested in fiber preparation lately, both working from fleece and the fiber fun of creating batts and rolags. 

The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible has come out at a perfect time, and it fills a gap in the spinning book world, since there are few blending board specific resources. 

You might know Debbie Held from her articles in PLY, Spin Off, her classes via The School of Sweet Georgia, or her in person classes. She’s been teaching and writing about fiber for many years. 

This book is most suited to spinners who have never used a blending board through intermediate blenders. Though there are plenty of tips and tricks, and just good reminders for advanced blending board folk. 

Debbie covers the nuts and bolts of blending boards, how they are made, carding cloth, the tools needed, and the tools that just make everything easier, step by step directions on how to use a blending board at its most basic, even has instructions for a DIY blending board, and shows ways to use your board that you may not have thought of.  

Tools in hand, the next step is to make excellent preparations. She makes a clear distinction between rolled preparations (rolags, punis, etc), the ones most spinners think of when using a blending board, and batts and pulled preparations (roving, sliver, and cloud). 

The technique of each style is covered in detail – best practices, tools, fibers, blends, more woolen or worsted leaning, and troubleshooting. Debbie’s teaching style is encouraging and she works in a practical step by step method. A complete novice could pick up this book and make beautiful preparations to spin in no time. 

Tools and techniques mastered; the fun begins. The delight of this book lies in all of the ways to make beautiful color combinations. Debbie presents a myriad of ways to work with color, tweed, heather, fractals, stripes, color blocking, smooth vs textured color, garneting, layering, flecks, vertical and horizonal gradients, add-ins, plus variations on most. 

This book is full of inspiration, creativity, and good instruction, so much so I couldn’t read it all the way through in one sitting. I had to stop, get out my blending board to play with the techniques. 


Jillian Moreno

Ask Jillian: What Should I Consider Before Buying a Wheel?

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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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