I hate to ask this because it seems when I post it's almost always the dead end of a discussion. But, how have you folks who spin got started? I was given quite a bit of roving all ready to go(actually 2 good sized boxes from last year), she even gave me a drop spindle,a ball winder and a swift so I would have no complaints, she said it would go with my yardage measuring device so I have a whole set. Have no idea what kind of spindle it is called, it just looks like ones online that "experienced" spinners use. I am afraid to ruin things so haven't started yet. Silly? yep, but I am.
Have looked at videos online(can't afford new books so please, don't suggest one. Am just scared. How do you start when you've never even seen it done except in a video?

Lady,
Do you have anyone who can show you in person? Like the nice person who gave you all the roving? As for the spindle, is it really a drop spindle or is it one that rests on the floor (or your lap)? A drop spindle is one where a hook or notch is in the short part of the spindle near the whorl (disk). The other, called a supported spindle, has the hook or notch at the top of the longer part of the spindle above the whorl, and the short part of the spindle rests on the floor. You might find the supported spindle easier to use as you learn to spin, because you can control it better.
A drop spindle, like its name suggests, you hold up in the air, give a good spin to to get it going then draft out the fibers as the spindle drops toward the floor. When the rotation slows down or the spindle gets to the floor then you wind on your newly spun fiber and start over. The supported spindle you give a good spin to to get going, but the short point rests on the floor (carpet's not a good surface because it stops the spindle from spinning). Any way, get the spindle going, draft out an arms length of yarn, then either because the spindle stopped/slowed or you reached your arm's length, stop and wind on your yarn. Leave enough length to spiral up to the top of the spindle and start again. With either type you will need a leader yarn, that's an already spun length of yarn that you tie your ready-to-spin fiber to to give you a start. You will need to watch that your leader yarn isn't spun in the opposite direction that your going to be spinning your new yarn or you will just un-spin it as your spinning your first length. Generally, yarn is spun by turning the spindle in a clockwise direction. You may have heard about Z-twist and S-twist. If you turn your spindle clockwise that gives you a Z twist because the fibers will lay with a slant in this direction; /. If it had this direction to it, \, that is S twist. That would be done by spinning counter-clockwise.
Hope this helps, not scares you away! It's loads of fun, and you can create exactly the yarn you want when you want.

I would look on line to see if you might have a spinning guild near you. If you are lucky to have one then may be you can see things in person which always helps me a lot!

Gosh how lucky to have all these items. I keep thinking about spinning but then think oh I don't need to add that to my UFO. However my knitting friend here brought her wheel up for the winter and I will get to mess around with it under a watchful eye.

Good luck!

Sorry to confuse the issue, but there are high and low whorl drop spindles so not all spindles with the whorl at the bottom are supported spindles.

Here's what you want to do: join ravelry and go to the Beginning Spinners forum, and read all the answers to the questions other beginners have already asked.

While you're waiting for your Ravelry membership, you can make yourself a leader (as Diana mentioned in her post): ignore the spindle for now, and take a foot or so of the roving and pull it away from the rest. Pull a little bit of it-- with a handful or so of individual fibers--partway out from the end of the piece of roving, and twist it with your fingers. While you're twisting, pull it further from the roving and watch what happens: the twist will collect more fiber from the roving, so while your "yarn" gets longer it stays attached to the roving and more fiber feeds into the area that's getting twisted. To keep it going without getting untwisted when you reach the limit of how far your fingers can twist, roll the new yarn along your thigh while pulling the roving away from it. Congratulations: you just made yarn, and hopefully enough to use as a leader. Without letting it unravel, tie the end of it onto your spindle (see photos and videos online to show where), bring the loose end up to the hook (if you have one), and wrap it around the hook so it'll stay there for now and the yarn will stay twisted.

From there you can use the spindle to put the twist in rather than your fingers or other body parts. You unwind the yarn from the hook first, and you make sure you flick the spindle so it goes in the same direction you've already spun, but if I were you I'd wait until I could see how it's done.

Hope this is enough to give you a general idea.

I just realized I said if I were you I'd wait to see how it's done, but in fact I didn't! So--do whatever you feel like.:-)

I was lucky enough to take a course in spinning at a local college years ago. The only time I spin is when I am asked to do a demonstration. I just bought some roving (75% romney, 25% mohair) it's beautiful but I feel like I should practice with some wool first so I don't ruin the good stuff. I don't feel I am a good spinner but I think I would be if I practiced.My problem is I would rather knit than spin.

Thanks you guys. The spindle has a tag on it saying "use this drop spindle to learn how to make your own yarn. No company name or logo & has a hook on top. The closest guild is 150 miles away and the closest college has no textile dept. I went there a couple of years ago and I was the one the instructors sent people to with questions.
The lady who gave me the roving owns a humongous sheep ranch and is a friend of a friend, she knows I want to learn to spin. I had a wheel for a short time but had to give it back when his niece had a fit about it.
She has offered me 1 or 2 fleece a year if I get into it and had a lady in the town she buys supplies clean the wool and do whatever is needed to make the roving for me but she lives in the next state about 250 miles away.
I've been watching youtube, am a member on ravelry and read books. Got up the nerve to try the twist and worked off about 3 ft of bulky yarn which thrilled me, but was afraid to go further. Anything that looks so easy just has to be hard.

See, that's entirely the wrong attitude!! It's only hard because you make it hard. You need coordination, but you have that already because you knit. Now you just need to spin enough to gain the muscle memory to do it automatically. You will undoubtably make very lumpy yarn to start, and that's mainly because you're new to this, that's normal. As long as you have a really well prepared roving to start with you will make nice smooth yarn in no time. And even as a newbie, you will generally know bad roving when you come across it. Like all things, there are exceptions to that, but most spinners will agree. You just can "feel" it, literally and figuratively speaking.
So get on with the spinning.

I am guilty of this as well at times----it has to be perfect so I think and so I won't do it.

I think the best thing to do is jump in and have some fun here! You are going to make some yarn that might be great and might not be----but take the stuff that you not that happy with and you can make felted slippers, mittens, bags or something out of that stuff!

Think of the first spinners . . . they figured it out over time. Practice makes quality---YOU CAN DO THIS!

About a year ago my neighbor, who was interested in learning to spin, heard on a local radio station that a woman had a spinning wheel to sell. She wanted $25.00 for it. My neighbor called her and went to look, the woman said right away. "You can have it for $20.00." Of course she bought it-it sure looks like an Ashford to me and works fine. This neighbor then got on E-bay and bought an identical wheel for $425.00. I've stopped trying to figure that one out. I don't believe she has taught herself to spin. Oh well. I guess I must be in a mood this morning!

The best advice I can offer up is to practice in spite of how frustrating it will get. I taught myself that way and can spin a pretty mean lace yarn. After a few months of practice, I did take a beginners class and was proud of myself when the instructor came over to me and whispered "what are you doing here, you should be taking the intermediate or advanced class" I explained that I was self taught and wanted to refine my skills.
With enough practice there will be one of those AHA moments when the light bulb clicks on and the fiber is flying off your fingers. I taught myself on a wheel then later bought a drop spindle which I took to immediately.
Start out with a medium to coarse wool as it is easier to learn with. The finer roving can be too slippery for beginners. Check out some You Tube videos as well. Make sure to check out spinning from the fold as this is a drafting technique that helped me very much. Also, do not get trapped by working to spin super fine yarns all the time as I did. I can spin yarn like thread but find it more of a challenge to spin thicker yarns.
Good luck and remember to practice.

Ladywildcat,
enjoy your lumpy and bumpy yarn, because it won't be that way for long. As you get going the yarn you make will become smoother and later you will try, believe it or not, to put those lumps back into your spinning, for effect.
Hang in there. Try doing it right before you go to sleep.