Spindlitis

I am thinking about doing some large projects on my spindles. And that leads me to thoughts about production. Because you run into this issue with all sorts of spinning tools. My Pipy spins nice yarn and I can spin enough to do a large project. It’s not the most efficient way to do it. It doesn’t have large bobbins and it has a 16″ drive wheel. My Louet S-10 has larger  bobbins and a large drive wheel. It’s a lot easier to crank out the yarn on it. The new Country Craftsman does not have especially large bobbins. It does have a 24″ drive wheel. I can do fine yarn projects on this wheel that I would find tedious on the Pipy.

The same thing applies with spindles. A production spindle will have a longer shaft, so that it holds more yarn. It could be a bit heavier, but really I think the shaft length is major. I love those Kaaris, but the shaft is so short that it doesn’t hold a lot of yarn.

My Mongold, which hasn’t seen a lot of action lately, is a real production spindle. I’ve used it to ply a 4 ounce bobbin, spun on a wheel. It’s not too heavy if you are spinning thicker yarns. And it has a nice long shaft.

This Tracy Eichheim low whorl is another production spindle. I use it for plying fairly often. It holds a lot.

This is the new butternut Bosworth Midi. It’s a lighter weight production spindle, weighing in at 20 grams. Nice long shaft and I can pack a lot onto it.

This is my Jenkins Delight and an unnamed Turkish spindle. I don’t really think of my Delight as a production spindle. I am working on a sweater project and I also know there are ways to pack on more yarn, depending on how I wind it. But it’s limited. A Swan might be a better choice or even an Egret. The big Turk would work, but it’s heavy enough that it doesn’t put a lot of twist in the yarn. I do use it for plying sometimes.

Sometimes, we just want to have fun and spin or even do a quick sample. And sometimes we pick up a spindle because we fall in love with it. With spindles, you really do need to have few different weights around, for different types of yarns. I’m assembling a production team for my sweater projects, all Bosworths because I really want to work on my high whorls again. If you are considering larger spindle projects, you might want to take a look at the spindles you are using and make sure they are a good fit for the project.