This is my latest yarn: it’s a two-ply made from an alpaca single and a Coopworth single. All of this was spun on my Schacht Matchless spinning wheel.
My thinking on combining these two fibers was that the alpaca would lend softness to the Coopworth, and the Coopworth would lend a bit of bounce to the alpaca. It seems to have worked fairly well, but the proof will be in the knitting.
I only have about 160 yards of this or so because I had pretty small amounts of both the Coopworth and the alpaca. It should be enough for a cowl though. Now the only problem is deciding on a pattern.
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It seems the most frequent question asked on almost every spinning discussion board I visit is a variant of the following:
What’s the best spinning wheel for a beginning spinner?
Fortunately, folks that know a lot more about spinning wheels than I do have answered that question in the most recent (Summer 2008) edition of Spin Off
magazine. The article, “How to Choose Your First Wheel” by Rudy Amann, gives the following suggestions:
Visit a shop that has several different spinning wheels you can try
This is probably the most important guideline in the article. Even if a wheel meets all the technical specs you’re looking for, you won’t really know if it works for you unless you try it out. If there’s no shop in your area, try to find a spinning guild with friendly members that might let you try out their wheels.
You’ll want to pay particular attention to whether you’re more comfortable with a single or double treadle wheel. Many people seem to feel that double treadle wheels are easier for beginners to handle, but this really is an individual preference.
Think about where you will be using your spinning wheel
If you’re planning to travel with your wheel at all frequently, you’ll want to think about getting a portable wheel. On the other hand, if you think that will be an extremely rare occurrence for you, a Saxony style or castle style wheel might be better because they are often more stable. Of the three styles, the Saxony style is going to take up the most space and be the hardest to transport easily.
If portability is highly important to you, you might even want to consider a charka instead of a spinning wheel.
Decide what fibers and types of yarn you’ll be spinning the most
This will influence your decision of what type of drive system you’ll want to look for. If you want to spin finer yarns, you’ll want to consider either a flyer-lead (scotch tension) or double-drive wheel. On the other hand, if you want to spin heavier weight yarns, you might prefer a bobbin-lead wheel, which also has the advantage of requiring fewer adjustments while spinning.
Here are some other factors that I think are important:
Cost
Spinning wheels come in a wide range of prices. Among the least expensive are spinning wheels are the Babe’s spinning wheels. These are far from the most attractive spinning wheels around in my opinion, but every time I’ve read a review, their owners seemed to be happy with how they spin.
Reputation of the Manufacturer and the Seller
You can find this out by searching on some spinning forums. You’ll want to pay particular attention to how they resolved any customer complaints. If you are considering buying a used wheel, you will probably want to make sure the manufacturer is still in business or you might have a difficult time finding compatible replacement parts or accessories (such as extra bobbins).
Hope you found these tips helpful!
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