I Want to Learn How to Spin
 

Hi - I would like to learn how to spin. I live in the Los Angeles area and I have been looking on the web to find classes or someone who is willing to teach. A LYS in Santa Monica has occasional classes, but I missed the last class offering and it looks like they won't be having another one for a looooong time. I did contact the teacher of their last class by e-mail a few weeks ago . . . . no response!!! I've looked for LYS offerings, Craigslist, community classes, etc and have come up empty handed. So I am taking a stab at asking if anyone on the forum might live relatively close and be willing to teach me, or if someone might have some ideas for me. :)

Check for fiber guilds in your area. These links should help you find one:

http://www.interweave.com/spin/resou...inning_guilds/

http://www.fibreartsonline.com/fac/w...htm#California

Thank you so much! It was hard to really narrow my search without knowing what to look for. I couldn't find as much with "learning how to spin" or "spinning classes", etc. I contacted the president of the Southern California Handweaving Guild - not spinning but related. She gave me the name of a member that teaches and a link to the Los Angeles Spinning Guild's teacher page. There's a couple that are relatively close. One of the teachers happens to be the person I already e-mailed, but never received a response from but I will try again. Maybe my e-mail got lost in his junk folder.

Good online videos
 

Hi,

I recently wanted to learn how to spin myself. I bought a drop spindle kit from mainewoodsyarn.etsy.com. I also found some great videos from the Art of Megan - http://www.theartofmegan.com/yarn. They really helped since I didn't have anyone to teach me directly.

Good Luck!
Jess

Evona,
Check out Abby Franquemont's "Drop Spindle Basics" if you're thinking about starting with a drop spindle.

I have folks spinning within 5-10 minutes using this method

Those are the videos I used to learn. I bought a kit that came with a DVD but didn't find the info there useful. I was lucky to find Abby's videos right off and learned a tremendous amount. I found that predrafting is a negative for me with the wool I'm using to spin. She explains things very clearly and also the whys of some things.
I'm now up to 4 spindles and 7 1/2 lbs of various wool top and just finishing my 1st pair of socks knit with my own homespun yarn.
I'm having a blast! I also plan to get Abby's book Respect the Spindle.

Thanks so much for all your advice. I think I will look into getting a drop spindle. I watched the first video already. I would like to learn how to spin on a wheel eventually, but really can't afford one right now anyway, so maybe this will be a good start for me. :cheering: