I've used a drop spindle. My mom was big into spinning her own yarn when I was younger, and I went with her to spinning meetings with a little group about once a month. She made me my own drop spindle (out of a dowel rod and a CD actually) and I did it for awhile before (as a young teenager) I tired of it. :P She kept it up for awhile, sometimes using alpaca wool, I think, from one of our neighbors.