Drop Spindle Angora Rabbit

How I Got Started

Spinning Angora yarn is my passion. I became interested in spinning (not bike) yarn after signing up for a drop spindle class at a local yarn shop. That was over 15 years ago and I still love spinning. I upgraded later to a spinning wheel, but I still think the drop spindle is a fun, affordable way to get your feet wet in the yarn spinning world.

I took my class in person (this was long before YouTube) with several others who shared an interest in making their own yarn. The person who sticks out to me the most is the woman that was there to learn how to spin cat hair (she had 10 or 11!) into yarn. And she did. Six months later I was in the shop purchasing some yarn and the shop owner asked if I remembered her. Of course I did! Who could forget the woman who was going to spin cat fur. She proceeded to tell me that not only did she spin her cats’ fur, she spun a lot of it. Like enough to knit an entire long sweater coat out of nothing but cat fur. I was shocked, and impressed!

Finding Angoras

It inspire me to search out and find a small acreage (we had 1 acre at the time) fiber animal that I could spin into yarn. I went to my very first fiber festival that fall and was introduced to “Charlie” the French Angora rabbit. I was smitten. Who wouldn’t be?! A big, fluffy bunny that resembled an Ewok, and I fell in love. That Christmas my husband got me my first two angora rabbits, Mary and Elizabeth, and I’ve been raising them ever since.

I researched all I could on Angoras on the internet with mixed reviews. Remember this was the early 2000’s and the best information I could find was in blogs and articles. Most of them said that Angora can never be spun by itself, it needed to be blended with something else. Well, I’ll show them I thought, and I did. I spun 100% Angora, on a drop spindle for well over a year before I got my first spinning wheel. Mastering the drop spindle made jumping on a spinning wheel so easy. You can find some of my work on my website https://tailspinfarm.com/shop/

From time to time I still grab my collection of drop spindles just to see if I can still spin on them, I can. I highly recommend if you have a desire to pick up a new skill, find yourself a drop spindle and some fiber (your dog or cat might work too!) Open up my YouTube channel and learn how to drop Spindle.

~Renee~