Years back i made a drop spindle from a wooden dowl i carved by hand to have a simple hook at the top, a stainless steel sink strainer for the weight, and some two part epoxy. It still holds strong to this day. I also built a spinning wheel from wooden toy blocks, a bicycle wheel, and coat hangers. My wife bought me a beautiful spinning wheel a few years later. I need to get it back out and use it.

Wool is nice but if you can get alpaca you're gonna love it.

My hands hurt too much to effectively knot or crochet anything unfortunately