I want to learn to spin. So far I have bought a drop spindle, some fiber and a few spinning books. Then I have done NOTHING with them. Inertia has set in. Y’all with your lovely spinning forum here remind me that I need to get moving on this.
Any other drop spindle spinners around? If so, please say “hi” – I’d love to meet you.
Amy
Hi Amy! Definitely an avid drop spindle spinner here - what spindle and fiber do you have on hand? We can talk you through this.
Hi Amy! I’m a drop spindle spinner. glad to help out if I can.
I spin on the wheel, but I started on a drop spindle. I love my Snyder gear spindle, and also my Snyder Turkish Drop Spindle 
Love using both and have used both in this year’s Spin de Fleece.
To start, you want to do a park and draft, it will make it a lot easier to figure out what all is happening when you are spinning wool So you use youtube? There are several very good how to videos. Where are you located? If you are nearby, I wouldn’t mind helping you get started in person.
I also started on a drop spindle before I got my wheel. I still use the drop spindle while traveling. I prefer a turkish spindle.
Unlurking…I exclusively spin on spindles only. Started on a ‘drop’ spindle, then moved to supported and now to 'in-hand." It’s wonderful, and am happy to answer any questions that I can. Park and draft to start, definitely. Also, big beginner problem I had that no one told me about until way later–if your fiber starts out easy and fluffy to spin and then suddenly you just can’t get it to work anymore–it means you let the twist get too much up into your unspun fiber!
Thank you! I appreciate the offer of help! I got a kit on ebay like this one to start with:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/193449304908?hash=item2d0a7a234c:g:T7YAAOxyOalTYu9P
It came with wool fiber, and also got some additional wool of the Andes fiber from Knitpicks. The books I have are “Hands on Spinning” and “Respect the Spindle”. Totally open to other recommendations if anyone has suggestions. THANKS!
Thank you for the recommendation on the Snyder spindles. I will take a look at them.
Spin de Fleece sounds like fun.
Thanks also for the recommendation on park and draft. I will take your suggestion to look for park and draft videos on Youtube – THANK YOU! A thousand thanks. It’s easier to overcome inertia when one has an idea of what to do first…so I definitely appreciate this suggestion.
That is really generous of you to offer to help in person! I would LOVE to meet you! But sadly, I think we are too far apart to make that happen. I’m in the mountains of Utah. If I ever travel up your way, I will look you up.
Hi Linda! Nice to “meet” you.
Thank you for the recommendation on the Turkish spindle. That is helpful!
What makes you prefer the Turkish spindle over a drop spindle? Thanks so much for any insights – I really appreciate the info!
@dapncat – Hi! Nice to “meet” you! Thanks for unlurking long enough to make that helpful post, which I sincerely appreciate.
First of all, thanks for the recommendation on park and draft. I will definitely start there.
Thanks also for mentioning the supported and in-hand options. I will look into them. Much appreciated!
Thanks also for alerting me to the problem of letting too much twist get to the unspun fiber. I will be on the lookout for that – it’s a helpful tip. THANK YOU!
A turkish spindle is a subset of drop spindles. What I like is that you wind the cop into a center pull ball that easily is removed and plied.
Thanks for the info, Linda. That is helpful to know.
Have you seen this video? There are tons on YouTube but here is one that you might find helpful.
https://youtu.be/TVN29xzZ4uM
Happy to help in any way I can. I had a friend who started learning to spin the same time I did–she gave it up after a few months because it “wasn’t working” anymore. Many years later, I realized her problem was that her fiber got too much twist up into it–which makes it ridiculously hard to draft.
@Carlota – Thank you so much for that suggestion! No, I hadn’t seen that one. Looks like it will be helpful – much appreciated!
What a bummer that she wasn’t able to figure that out and continue with spinning. 
But I can see how that could happen. It is hard to learn a new skill without having someone knowledgeable who can teach you in person. I’m really glad you were able to figure it out and overcome that particular hurdle.
@Carlota – Thanks again for the great video suggestion. I watched it a couple of times and found it amazingly helpful. She really simplified the process and made it seem doable. I bet I can do this!
@amysolovay Glad it helped. I watched every drop spindle spinning video I could find on YouTube and I had a lot of head-knowledge mixed with pent-up hesitancy and fear "). Then I took a private lesson from my LYS spinning guru. She put a spindle and wool in mind hands, showed me what to do, and in spite of a lot of fumbling, soon I was spinning. It was good that she would leave me alone to practice and fiddle while she waited on customers. Basically I was trapped into having to finally try what was only theoretical up to then. I needed this push. But the videos are so much better now that if you get out your spindle and wool and start messing around with them, you could get the hang of it fairly quickly. The main thing is not to think you need to have the spindle dangling while you are learning to draft. Park and draft is a skill you keep using at all stages of mastery, for getting things started, for resolving problems, for sorting out a difficult spot in the wool, etc. At some point (minutes or weeks down the line), when you have control over drafting and blocking twist until you are ready to have it enter the fiber, thus cementing it, you will be at ease to have the spindle spin suspended while you are drafting. I hope when you give it a try you will be reassured that many tries are needed to get the feel of what you are supposed to be doing and that you can ask us when you hit a roadblock. Have fun and don’t be too scared.
That looks like a nice kit to start with