I 'Respect The Spindle' because it's the beginning...the beginning of everything fabric and textiles.  Spinning is more than a craft.  It's how our world wears clothes and sails boats and how we can drop from the sky and be carried safely down by the air.  Without that spindle we'd be naked and cold and still living in caves.  How can one NOT respect it?!

Why not- you c an carry it in your bag, you can make one out of a stick and a rock., you can spin and ply anything and make great yarn.

Spindling will always be near & dear to my heart. I learned to spin at an SCA event in 1999, and won an award that day for the longest strand spun by a new spinner. I still have the brass ring that was the prize, and wear it often. Spindling is how I play with fine fibers that I truly want to enjoy, though if I'm spinning for speed, I'll pull out my Babe wheel. I own a dozen or so spindles (not including quick dowel & toy wheel spindles I've put together for classes), and love their individual characteristics. My small brass spindle is great for spinning in cramped spaces, or traveling. My Kundert is beautiful and spins for a long time. My Greensleeves spindles are lovely in their simplicity of design, and so smooth...

i not only respect the spindle, i love the spindle! where i learned to put the spin in and something i can carry anywhere to get my spin-fix! plus the girlie and i have made our own for as long as we've been fiber chicks (: The spindle is steeped in history & tradition and has offered me numerous opportunities to share the fiber love and education with countless people!

Using a spindle seems to create a more intimate relationship between the spinner and the fibre.  Each handmade spindle has unique qualities that you must discover  to create good yarn.

I love spindles because they are an efficient, interesting connection to our human past.  It's a great feeling to learn and do something that was once so important to people and families throughout history.  The true enjoyment I get out of turning wool into fabric is an amazing feeling; I feel a real sense of accomplishment in creating garments from basic materials.  

I respect the spindle because it's a world-wide language--a spindle in Otavalo, Ecuador, works the same way one in Punxsutawney, PA works. A spindle spins a thread that encircles the globe, connecting all.

I respect the spindles as they are in our roots- they are as diverse as we are as a people and I find that history fascinating.

I most definitely "Respect the Spindle!" Drop spindles are so portable you can take them pretty much anywhere and spin.  They are much smaller then spinning wheels which makes them perfect to collect. So wonderful to stash away without husbands knowing how many you actually have. Abby is a foremost authority on spindles.  It is an amazing, ancient craft that I am so happy I have learned to do.

I 'respect the spindle' because it takes us to the ancient roots of fiber arts.  It makes me feel connected to all spinners and weavers throughout all of history and that now, the craft is being put into my hands to carry forward  to future generations, so it will not be lost.

I love being able to spin ANYWHERE!!!

Using a spindle makes me feel connected to my ancestors in a way that other activities just can't. I can easily picture my great great grandmother sitting at her hearth deftly spinning as she sings a rhythmic song to herself or tells a tale to her children. There is something so soothing and calming about the pace and rhythm involved that I almost feel transported, like I'm sitting there humming right along with her.

Historically, the spindle has given humans the ability to make fabric to clothe themselves.  Nowadays, the spindle is a portable way to support my knitting habit.

I respect the spindle because it is a cool and fun tool to use to get the beautiful yarn I want to spin.   It helps me create the yarn to make my wonderful keepsakes.  I like that it is simple and you can take anywhere.  

Spindling puts me into a Zen-like state of mind, reminds me of ancestral ties, and starts conversations with interested folks. It is such a magical process!

I respect the spindle because they date back so far in history.

I "Respect the Spindle" because of all the beautiful yarns I have seen made with a spindle.  I hope to make yarn myself some day with the 2 spindles I have invested in.

I respect the spindle because it takes raw fiber and turns it into something useful!

How can you not respect a tool that is portable, practical, produces beauty, and is beautiful in its own right.

I Respect the Spindle because it is one of the most ancient ways to make thread and cordage, and is still one of the most effective.

I respect the Spindle as I have never had the opportunity to try one out.  I see this Christmas as a time to learn somethign new and ask Santa for a spindle and maybe a book to help me understand the spindle and all the wonderful things one can create with it.  I am super excited about this opportunity.

Instilling the history of the ancient arts, the spindle provides an open doorway to exploring an avenue of unleashed creativity within us.  Not only is spindling carrying on a tradition still used in many parts of the world as their primary means of providing spun fiber for clothing but it gives us the opportunity to pass this tradition down to our younger and eager generations.  This is an easy responsibility to those if us who spindle.  We find a moment to share the love of the craft.

The meditative motions that spindling provides soothes us, thereby creating a calm inner self.  The infinite possibilities with colors, textures and a variety of techniques stretch our creative minds.  The portability of the spindle is a gift to us.   It enables us to take a few minutes, wherever we find ourselves, to lift it up and spin a few yards of wonder.  These moments also oftentimes open more opportunities to teach and share.

Within all of us, in todays hectic and fast world, is the need to return to these moments of inner peace and relaxation.  To me, the spindle is our perfect opportunity.

I respect the spindle because how awesome is it to be able to take your spinning anywhere and to show people how its done.

The spindle is primitive.  It is a tool that has been used for centuries yet is a tool that can be used, unchanged, in today's modern world.  It is a true example that sometimes it is best to not improve on an already perfect tool.

I have her DVD but would love a copy of the book to go with it.  :)

I respect the spindle because you can take it anywhere and show people how to use it really easy. I love spindling

I respect the spindle because people can see how spinning works & try it and get it! I've seen more than one face light up with delight and fascination when they "got" it!

Whether it be women or children (no men tried it yet), demonstrating a drop spindle then handing it over, with mild correction, just excites people.

Then I get to sell them lessons or fiber! A win/win cause they get self-esteem once they realize how gifted they are!

I do need more practice though and having a handy reference for hints, tips, advice would go a long way toward helping.

I respect the spindle because they are the very foundation foundation for my love of fiber arts. I learned how to spin with a spindle late 2007 and the following year I got my first wheel a Wee Peggy. I got another wheel last year an Aura. After using my wheels so much I rarely ever picked up my original drop spindles. A couple months after I got my Aura I fell in love with some spinning I saw on a Turkish spindle and had to get one. I now have two Jenkins Turkish Spindles and they have really changed how I feel about spindle spinning. They are are my go to for any fine fibers or for spinning lace. They go with me everywhere and have their own little home inside a cute jewelry bag.

At first I hated drop Spindling, now I have quite a collection and use them often. It's all about the draft!

I respect the spindle because it hates me. The wheel and I are in love, but the spindle and I . . . not so much.

But that will soon change. Spindle has become my contast companion and we will soon have a love/love relationship.

I respect the spindle because this simple tool is a gateway into the fiber world.

I respect the spindle because it teaches me patience, patience, patience. Who doesn't need more of that? I also like the idea that I'm doing something that an ancestor did hundreds of years ago -- and that her efforts may in some way have helped the generations continue through the centuries, right up to mine.

I respect the spindle because it's so flexible and so portable, and can do so much.

I respect the spindle, is the neatest tool ever. You can bring it with you everywhere and love seeing people's reaction when I"m spinning! It is the coolest tool ever made.

Deb

because they are beautiful, portable and provide endless hours of peaceful entertainment

I respect the spindle because using one to spin yarn is kind of a "Zen" thing for me.  I calm down, slow down and just enjoy it.  I can always learn more about the process though!

I RESPECT my spindles. In each one of them I see the love and care of the amazing craftsman/woman who's hands created such an amazing tool. I RESPECT my spindles because, even though I own 6 spinning wheels, my spindles remind me of my connection to ancient spinners. I RESPECT my spindles because it seems that even with a busy lifestyle, and the need to always be on the go, I can still steal moments here and there and zone out with some spinning. I RESPECT my spindles.

I Respect the spindle as after months of trying i now have the first of what i hope to be many  many beautiful yarns... it teased me in so many ways..nearly there on several occasions but now i am hooked...want to try all types there are & can see a long & happy relationship developing in the many many years to come...Thanks to my tiny but mighty Spindle!

How can you not respect the spindle?  Even one that was made yesterday has a solid, comforting air of antiquity and tradition about it.  They're also small, portable, and easy to store when not in use.  Can you tell I love them?

I LOVE the video and the book would even be BETTER! Everything starts with a spindle!

I respect the spindle because it connects me to all the spinners who have ever lived, making yarn for their families, for warmth and protection and beauty.  We are all truly a 'fiber family', connected like the fibers in the yarn to each other when we create with our spindles.

I respect the spindle because it's amazing that such a simple yet complex tool can be the beginning of such beautiful useable works of art. A simple plain spindle or an ornate spindle, it doesn't matter,  they both can make the same beautiful spun yarn.  I have not learned to spin yet,  but am planning on learning in the very near future.  it sure would be a big help to win this awesome book!!!  Thank you for having such a great contest,  I hope I win!  :)  

Spindle spinning is my first love.  I learned to spin on my beloved Turkish, and the act of spinning in this way, I feel, has helped me feel connected with ancestors and all those spinners who came before, for whom spinning was not just a necessity, but an art.

After every one of my children's births I took up a necessary hobby-therapy.  When our first born son, Zach, was born I yearned to learn the art of weaving.  The threads of my life were in the beginnings of a lovely tapestry and  weaving seemed the natural choice....alas, my mentor, Molly, would not hear of me beginning at the loom without first experiencing the patient  rhythmic meditation of the drop spindle.  I disappointed, agreed, as this is the only way she would begin with me.  This discipline became my joy and still continues to this day, as I lead in the same path as she and share my love of fibres with my nine grandchildren.  They have all begun with the spindle...  

I love the simplicity of spindles, they can be anything from functional lumps of wood to miniature works of art and they can be spun on almost anywhere :-) I almost always carry one :-)

w00t!! i won a copy thank you :-)

I respect the spindle because it's  where it statred, the spindle may have been primitive but it's where it began. It's organic, simple and you can take it anywhere.