The Right Spindle for the Job

One of the unexpected decisions I had to make, while exploring the various fleeces, was choosing the right spindle for a specific type of fleece. Originally, I was thinking that for comparison purposes the same tool should be used for all of them. It quickly became apparent that to successfully spin each into something pleasing and useable, different tools would be needed for the different qualities of each fleece. I took a Shetland fleece, one that was a middle of the road type for crimp, softness, and staple length, in addition to being something I was very familiar with and spun it on three different tools; high whorl drop spindle, low whorl drop spindle and a support spindle.  The results were noticeable but not surprising. The finest was from the support spindle, all were soft. From this point on I would sample each fleece, spinning small amounts on different tools and then deciding what worked best, which would be totally subjective. My overall goal was to explore clothing quality yarns spun from primitive breed sheep. I was looking for soft and touchable.