Spinning Angora on a Spinoluiton Monarch - Fine Fibers on a production wheel
This blog is written by one of my friends and favorite guest bloggers Renee from Tail Spin Farms. She has been keeping Angora rabbits caring for them and their fiber and spinning for years. We are so lucky she is here to share her knowledge with us. You can get your own Angora fiber to spin and blend directly from her at her site.
When I first started on my spinning journey 17 years ago, the internet was in its early stages and
YouTube was nonexistent (at least to my knowledge). In researching a small acreage fiber animal,
Angora rabbits were the animal that came up over and over again in articles and blogs. I didn’t even
know they existed. I went on a mission to find out everything I could about them. The one thing that
came up over and over again was the “fact” that you could not spin 100% Angora. Being the rule breaker
I am, I got two French Angoras and said “watch me”. My “farm” knowledge at that time was riding on
the back of my grandpa’s tractor and chickens. All these years later I have my own little “flock” of
beautiful Angoras.
I learned how to spin on a drop spindle and managed to start spinning 100% angora on that. I knew that
a spinning wheel would be my next step in the journey and once I got my first wheel, I was well on my
way. Angora is very silky and slick and that causes some people to struggle. I have spun mine thin or
thick, depending on what I want to use it for. Anything from hats, mittens, and scarves to jewelry is my
preferred method.
I purchased my first Spinolution wheel this last fall and decided to go with the Monarch after going over
what I would spin on it, with Erin, the dealer. I received my wheel, put it together quickly and was
spinning within 20 minutes. There was only one problem, Angora was hard to spin! Now remember, I
had been spinning it for 15+ years, and didn’t expect for there to be a learning curve.
Spinolution wheels are “production” wheels. Fast up take, quick spinning. Which is lovely with a fiber
that grabs more, but Angora is so slippery that it just kept pulling away from me. So, I had to slow down
my feet and slow down the uptake on the wheel by adjusting the drive bad and tension to make it all
come together.
I have no issues spinning Angora now and thoroughly enjoy spinning on my Monarch more than any wheel I’ve ever owned.
Learn more about the SpinOluiton Monarch below as well as on our YouTube Channel
We also have many different spinning wheel options that would be wonderful for fine fibers like our Pollywog!
This content is sponsored by our efforts to get unique small batch yarn in the hands of knitters everywhere. We have collaborated with Galler Yarns to bring you. Our "Free Luxury Yarn Sampler Shawl Kit" You will get s a free pattern. 3 full size skeins of our Asana Bulky Yarn ( alpaca and wool blend) for free! Just cover our shipping and handling so we can keep paying our staff great wages for their work. Thanks! https://craftyhousewifeyarns.com/free-asana-yarn-wrap
Sign up for our Dream Yarn course. It's available as our exclusive Patreon only content. This course will take you from our " Crafting with mindfulness Introduction" to learning on a drop spindle to designing your own yarn on a wheel if you wish. New content added all the time. https://www.patreon.com/Craftyhousewifeyarns The proceeds go to keeping the My Local Wool website staffed and running to help promote small farms.
