Mantra Knitting

Picking up a new hobby in 2026 was not on my list of goals. Yet, a few weeks ago, I was inspired to add to my fiber hobby portfolio and pick up spinning. Thanks to watching EmToTheThird on YouTube, I began dreaming of taking a project from raw wool to wearable item, with my own two hands.

To get started, I decided to keep costs low and start with a simple, top-whorl drop spindle from Revolution Fibers. Full disclosure, I tried spinning with a drop spindle circa 2010, but I didn’t get very far. (I’m not even sure what happened to that drop spindle!)

I also bought three packs of wool roving, with hopes that two of the three would be fairly usable for small knitting projects.

My First Spinning Supplies Included:

• Top-Whorl Drop Spindle
• Niddy-Noddy
• Wool Roving (I practiced with this wool roving and planned projects for this BFL in the colors Woodrose (shown below) and Royal Blue.)

I read that BFL was a good choice for spinning due to its longer “staple” length. I could tell a big difference between the wool I practiced on (which did not specify its origins) and the pink/purple BFL. For a beginner, the longer staple allowed me to draft much thinner than my first attempt.

I successfully spun all 4 ounces into a single ply. It was both shocking and amazing to see how much I improved between the beginning of the 4 oz to the end.

After finishing the single ply, I attempted the Andean plying technique to turn a single spindle into a 2-ply yarn. I thought I might lose my middle finger by the end of it (yikes!), and I ended up making it too tight to truly complete the technique as intended (ugh!). Luckily, I was still able to complete the plying process without ending up in too much of a tangled mess.

I can’t believe I made yarn! I was eager to see how it knit up, so I cast on for a small project – an ear warmer headband!

Every minute of the spinning process was filled with learning, but actually knitting with my handspun yarn may have taught me the most about my mistakes. While spinning the single ply, I suspected that I was over-twisting. In my head, I thought it might be better to have more twist than not enough, especially since I had struggled with keeping tension while plying (and therefore losing some of the twist) during my practice spin with the less expensive roving.

That extra twist did not magically go away as I plied, washed, and dried the yarn, so it created a rope-like quality to sections of the finished product. If I had bought this yarn, I would likely have complained about the inconsistency and the roughness of the over-twisted segments. But, since it is my own creation, I remain incredibly proud of the final result, and I am glad that I quickly cast-on with it to experience these characteristics before jumping to my next spin.

I have the third wool roving, a blue BFL, waiting for its moment to shine! Since I’ve truly been bitten by the spinning bug, I have decided to make one more investment in the process – an electric spinner! I wanted to learn the basics with the drop spindle, partially for cost but also for the knowledge gained through the slow, meticulous process.

Now, I feel ready to practice my drafting skills and improve my consistency with the e-spinner. It has shipped, so I’m on pins and needles waiting for its arrival. After some deliberation, I decided on the Dreaming Robots EEW 6.1. One day, I may invest in a traditional spinning wheel (like this one), and if I do, the e-spinner will still be useful for plying or to create larger quantities for a desired project.

I’m thrilled to add spinning to my hobby list, especially since it elevates my existing obsession with knitting. Each inch of wool passed through my hands 4 times (pre-drafting, spinning, plying, and knitting), so my energy is truly embedded in the finished result!

Happy Knitting…. Spinning…. Making!