A little apology – I’m sorry that I’m not responding to most comments lately. I do read them all and very much appreciate that you take the time to let me know your opinion. I will continue to follow up when I can.

–

I’ve always preferred top-whorl spindles (my first spindle was a top whorl), so I was surprised to find myself mildly obsessing over the Jenkins Turkish spindles last year. They are beautiful, artisan spindles that are made of various types of wood – but they are low whorl!

I mentioned my obsession to Kerry, spindle collector extraordinaire… (Actually, take a minute and go look at Kerry’s new wheel – made by Betty Roberts – isn’t it gorgeous?!?) Knowing that I use spindles primarily for laceweight yarn, she thought the Jenkins spindle would be too big for me. Ah, but then Mr Jenkins started offering miniature spindles, aptly named Turkish Delight. I was sorely tempted but wistfully held off.

Around the holidays, someone posted a fairly sizable and discounted destash list on Spin-Sales. Among her offerings was a Jenkins Turkish delight spindle made of brilliantly chatoyant beeswing narra wood, total weight 1.2 oz (34 g). My resolve crumbled, and I bought it. Ha. Felt good, too.

The Turkish spindle has a couple of unique features. One, it collapses down to a very small space, which can be handy for transporting. Two, there’s some fancy way to wind the yarn around the arms such that when you’re done spinning, you remove the arms and have a center-pull ball all ready to go. I did a test run by making a 3-ply yarn from 50/50 camel down/silk singles (also spindle spun).

I never got the hang of doing a thigh spin with low-whorl spindles, the yarn between the cop and the tip of the shaft always thwarts my efforts. Instead, I put the shaft between my flat palms and give it a good zing (like a sending a propeller stick toy aloft).

When I first began plying, I rapidly realized that I hadn’t the foggiest idea how to wind the yarn around the spindle arms. D’oh! A quick search led to Amelia, who showed me the way. Under 1, over 2, under 1, over 2…

To get the yarn off, ease out the spindle shaft.

Pull the skinny arm out first. You probably will need to wiggle it a little bit at first.

Ease out the larger arm and admire your handiwork!

That’s 17.6 g of yarn (yardage currently unknown). The ball of yarn seems quite stable.