Any high whorl spinners out there?

I've just begun reading Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book about high whorl spinners. Are there any knitters out there who have tried this? How do you like it, where have you gotten your spindles, what makers are good? I searched somewhat to see if P G-R has a blog, but was unsuccessful.

If you Google around, you can find instructions for making your own spindles.

Here's one you can make for 75 cents with an old CD.

http://danielson.laurentian.ca/qualityoflife/Fulltext/Textiles/Making_a_cd_drop_...

Something I've wanted to try, but haven't got around to. Ergonomically, they require you to bend over a lot, and at my age, the arthritis in my neck is a problem.

I primarily spin on a wheel, but my kids use drop spindles, high and low whorl. I highly recommend using the CD type or getting a fairly heavy wooden spindle to start out with, not a light one. Light spindles though the most commonly found, are excellent tools for making fine yarns, but will not spin fast enough or long enough to make the thicker yarns you will be making as a beginner. You will spend a lot of time with broken fibers and frustration. With a CD or similar heavier, longer spinning spindle you will enjoy the experience a lot more.
Taking a class at a fiber festival or with a private teacher will introduce you to the theory and tools much better too, though learning on your own can certainly be fun if there's no upcoming festival or nearby teacher!

LeesyLou,

I'm not a beginning spinner. I have a heavy wooden low whorl drop spindle, which I've used a great deal to spin fine yarns, as well as a wheel. I was hoping someone with direct experience with high whorl spinning might have some suggestions to offer.

Sorry--it sounds like you probably have more experience than I do. Enjoy the spinning though. I'm guessing you've already seen all the tutorials and info at http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/ and at Interweave like http://www.interweave.com/spin/spinoff_magazine/files/sum_05/Spin_Basic%20sum05.... and then there's , but just in case I figured I'd mention them.
There's http://www.ispindle.com/toc.htm but I think she only has low-whirl specifics. Same with Abby's Yarns video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXid5cT0y8 but I haven't watched it.

Question from my husband (long story short, he's interested in making spindles):

"I thought the spindle was the stick thing you wound the yarn around and that the weight thing that pulls the thread out of the raw wool was called something else."

I've used both bottom an top whorl. I like my bottom whorl the best but I do okay with the top whorl, yet I'm not experience with either.

I've made a few CD spindles and I didn't like them. I had to work to hard to keep them spinning.

not4me here's a link to an article that talk about the parts of a spindle:
http://www.spindlicity.com/fall2006/anatomy_spindle.shtml