by Nathan Perkins

Created on: November 23, 2011   Last Updated: November 27, 2011

Upland Hills Farm has been raising animals and teaching about early American homesteading for more than 50 years.  Many of the techniques and projects that were used on the early American homestead have been used for thousands of years and are still in use today in the United States and worldwide. 

One such project is the making of yarn using a drop spinner.  This is a great project because almost anyone can use a drop spinner and can even make their own drop spinner using items they have at home. 

1.         If you want to make your own drop spinner, start by finding a wheel that is about three inches in diameter.  A wooden craft wheel is ideal, but other balanced weights will work fine.  You can use an apple or an orange but it will not keep.   Take a quarter inch dowel and put it through the exact middle of the wheel.  It should extend one inch out of what will become the bottom of your spinner and about five inches above the wheel.  If it does not fit tightly, glue it in place.

Once that glue is dry you are ready to start making your own yarn using a drop spinner.

2.         If you don’t already have the fiber, I’ll suggest you get some wool.  There are some craft shops that sell wool in small portions.  That would be a good way to start. 

There is definitely a learning curve to the process but wool fiber is one of the easiest fibers to spin.  It has little barbs in the fibers that cling and when you spin two pieces together they are most likely going to stay together.  That means spinning yarn from wool is less involved and will likely be more successful then other fibers.

Frankenmuth Woolen Mill is about 1 hour north of Upland Hills Farm and is a great place to trade online or locally for wool.  Their webpage is www.frankenmuthwoolenmill.com . 

They sell wool in two different forms.   You will want yours roving.  This is long and skinny pieces that are easy to feed into a spinning process. 

Diehard crafters might track down and attend a fleece fair where they will get their fleece.  For the full experience you may want to try that. 

Wool is not the only fiber you can spin. There are many different kinds of fiber that can be spun the same way.  Though sheep wool is most common, some people spin rabbit, goat, alpaca, and cotton using the method

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