Maybe you are just like me. You want to try lots of different things, but you
don’t want to pay a lot of money for expensive equipment – just to give it a try.
That’s how it was for me when I wanted to try spinning with a drop spindle.
Luckily I found a DIY tutorial on the web, and I made my own.
This is how I made my first – and very usable – spindle.
I went off to the local craft store (Swedish Panduro) and bought the bottom
plate for making a table flagpole, to the cost abt EUR 1 – not a big deal.
It measures abt 85mm and the hole is 10mm diameter.
As for the flagpole the whole is not drilled all through the wooden plate,
you will have to do just that. Make sure your drill is same size as the
whole, and that you do not tilt the drill while drilling.
Then with a saw or a knife you make a scar at the side of the
wooden plate. Yeah, I know my saw is a bit rusty but it works anyway.
Now, this small scar will hold your yarn in place while spinning.
Take a wooden stick same size as the whole, and cut it to abt 23-25 cm long,
and put a small hook at one end of the stick.
Push the wooden stick through the whole in the wooden plate and
tadaa!! You now have your own drop spindle! I made four of them so far,
and with two of them I was lucky the stick fits perfectly in the whole,
but two of the needed some glueing to make the plate stay in place.
Now, head over to youtube and search for drop spindle spinning videos.
There are lots of them actually. Then head over to Ravelry and join one or several
of the spinning groups and start reading the discussion boards.
From there you will for sure get enough information to get started.
Happy spinning!
