also i hashtagged the start of this thread and yesterday's thread with #/spindleposting

so if you missed yesterday and want to catch up go there

just finished another big hunk o' wool

think i'll spin one more smaller hunk then probably wind it off this spindle, i could probably fit more but i find as the spindle gets more full the yarn is more likely to slip off the notch in the side of the spindle that helps hold it in place

also, parking the spindle between my knees less and less! i used to be able to walk around and talk and spin and such lol so let's get back to that

also i just realized i've just been saying "drop spindle" in my alt text

i xkcd experts comic'd yall depending on the alt text!

so, for anyone who wants further description, and also to give more info on drop spindles in general

a (standard) drop spindle is composed of a shaft and a whorl, with the shaft being, well, a stick, and the whorl being some kind of larger section on the shaft somewhere. often, the top of the shaft has a hook on it (mine does) - but sometimes there's just a little notch of some kind, and you just do a little half-hitch at the top, it varies. whorls can be top- or bottom- whorls - top ones are maybe an inch from the top of the spindle and bottom ones maybe an inch from the bottom. mine's a top whorl spindle.

the whorl 1) helps with weight and spin bc of physics magic (i'll go read respect the spindle later today and get yall more info on this, my head is fuzzy on circular object physics) and 2) gives you a place for your spun yarn to pile up against rather than just gathering on the center of the spindle. so you generally end up with kinda a cone of yarn, wide point against the whorl, and narrowing as it continues along the shaft

technically, a whorl is nonessential and you can spin with literally just a stick, but i'm not sure if you can *drop* spin with just a stick - it's at least doable in the hand though.

all this said there are other kinds of drop spindles and other types of spindles (like supported spindles!). turkish drop spindles for example look totally different.........lemme go get a pic of one actually :)

#spindleposting

so here's a 3d printed turkish spindle

instead of just winding the yarn onto the shaft, you wind it around the legs and it creates a center pull ball which is REALLY nice for plying

you can see there's no hook on this one, just a slight indent in the top of the shaft, that's very standard for turkish spindles and you just do a half hitch at the top of the shaft

turkish spindles pack flat when not in use so they're great for travel

also

nonbiney turkish spindle :)

i have one other 3d printed one (i got several for teaching at one point) and it's genderqueer colors :)))