Spinning

Spinning is done on many different types of wheel and on many kinds of spindles. Members of the Guild share their knowledge of fibres, fleeces and yarn preparation. Workshops are run on different methods of producing a wide variety of yarns. Some spinning is done for specific projects whilst other is done simply for the fun of producing unique novelty yarns. Take a look at the Spinning Reports to give you an idea.

Our Guild library contains a number of books on spinning. You can look at and, if you are a Guild member, borrow any of our books when you attend one of our meetings at Strathpeffer Community Centre. If you want to borrow at any other time, please contact us via this web site.

For information on local spinning groups see the events page

 

The spinning techniques we use

There are many ways to “spin a cat”!  From drop spindles to spinning wheels, we can use many different techniques.  Terms such as “long draw” and “woollen or worsted” will become familiar.  The pros and cons of different wheel types, spinning styles and fibre, preparation give us a huge range to explore, as well as the different materials that we can spin.  Below are some of the different categories of fibre.

Animal fibres

  • Sheep’s wool
  • Mohair and cashmere from goats
  • Alpaca, camel down, angora etc
  • Silk

Plant fibres

  • Cotton
  • Bast fibres from long stemmed plants such as flax, hemp, jute etc
  • Leaf fibres such as banana fibre

Other fibres

  • Synthetics
  • Viscose, tencel, ingeo
  • Soya and milk protein fibres, bamboo etc

Related crafts

  • Anything which requires yarn e.g. knitting, crochet etc; embroidery; lace; weaving, braiding.