{"id":495,"date":"2026-05-07T18:31:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/?p=495"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:31:04","slug":"when-your-default-yarn-stops-working-troubleshooting-a-new-wheel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/?p=495","title":{"rendered":"When Your Default Yarn Stops Working: Troubleshooting a New Wheel"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”4px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]

<\/p>\n

Like many spinners, I have a \u201cdefault yarn\u201d, the one I can spin without thinking. Same fibre, same hands, same rhythm. I just sit at my usual spinning wheel, and I just spin without thinking about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

So when I sat down at a new-to-me wheel and suddenly everything felt off, I knew it wasn\u2019t the fibre\u2026 and it wasn\u2019t me either.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0This week I\u2019ve been spinning on a new-to-me, Louet S90, and my usual muscle memory for my default yarn isn\u2019t working so well. So I thought I\u2019d share where I\u2019m going wrong and how to fix it.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8936-edited-web.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”a Louet S90 Spinning wheel” title_text=”IMG_8936-edited-web” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

My “New to me” \u00a0Louet S90 spinning wheel: quite different from my other wheels, I’m still learning her nuances<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” min_height=”609px” custom_padding=”||||false|false” sticky_enabled=”0″]

The Louet S90 is an Irish tension wheel, so even with the tension turned as low as it will go, it still pulls harder on the yarn than I\u2019m used to with my other wheels that use Scotch Tension. As a result:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
I\u2019m holding on to the yarn tighter than usual<\/span><\/li>\n
That pull makes me instinctively hold the fibre longer to make sure I get enough twist, and if I\u2019m drafting a bit lazy, (which tends to happen on my default yarn), I can get twist locked fibre<\/span><\/li>\n
This is exaggerated by the fact that I keep forgetting that this is a higher speed wheel than my usual.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
What have I changed to deal with these issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
I\u2019ve switched to the slowest whorl on the wheel, and slowed down my rate of spinning. This wheel isn\u2019t in my muscle memory yet so I do have to pay more attention to what I\u2019m doing, but this will help decrease the likelihood of too much twist too quickly.<\/span><\/li>\n
I can\u2019t decrease the tension on the wheel anymore, so I tried cross lacing the flyer. Cross lacing will decrease the pull you feel on your yarn, even if you can\u2019t decrease the tension any more. It worked beautifully, even though the hook system on this wheel is a bit unusual. Perhaps the funny loop on the other arm of the flyer was actually made for this purpose? I don\u2019t know. The S90 wasn\u2019t produced for long and it is no longer in production so some aspects of it are a bit of a mystery.<\/span><\/li>\n
I have switched drafts. Instead of a short forward draft, I\u2019ve switched to spinning the combed top from the fold using a supported long draw. It is really difficult to twist lock your fibre when you are spinning from the fold, so when I end up not focusing on my drafting, I am less likely to get twist locked as easily.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8937-wr.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” border_radii_image=”off||||” alt=”Shows spinning from the fold on a Louet S90 Spinning Wheel” title_text=”IMG_8937-wr” image_icon_width=”100%” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Spinning from the fold give more control over your fibre, with less chance of having your fibre get twist locked<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8921-edited-web.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Shows how I have cross laced the yarn on the flyer of this spinning wheel” title_text=”IMG_8921-edited-web” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
This is how I have cross laced the flyer on the Louet S90 spinning wheel. No idea if this is what the ring was meant for, but it works!<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]
<\/blockquote>\n
<\/blockquote>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
So if your yarn suddenly isn\u2019t behaving the way you expect, don\u2019t assume you\u2019ve lost your touch. More often than not, it\u2019s a mismatch between your muscle memory and your wheel\u2019s mechanics.<\/span><\/p>\n
Slow down, change one variable at a time, and let the wheel teach \/ remind you how it wants to spin. That\u2019s where real versatility as a spinner begins.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Like many spinners, I have a \u201cdefault yarn\u201d, the one I can spin without thinking. Same fibre, same hands, same rhythm. I just sit at my usual spinning wheel, and I just spin without thinking about it. So when I sat down at a new-to-me wheel and suddenly everything felt off, I knew it wasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions\/523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shadesofewe.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}