The fleece I washed the other day was dry tonight, so I started experimenting with how to process it for spinning. The Icelandic sheep's fleece has a longer overcoat, called the tog, and shorter, finer undercoat, called the thel. I'm thinking that I want to take advantage of these two different kinds of fiber. I'd like to use the longer tog for my warp thread, and the shorter thel for the weft. But how to separate it out? Here's the experiment. First, I pulled at the butt end of the lock, where it was cut off of the sheep. There were some very short fibers there. I pulled those out, and put them in a 'felting' pile. Then I loaded the butt ends of the locks onto the wool combs, filling about half way up the tines. Holding the Viking comb in one hand, I brushed the other comb sideways through the locks of wool, first away from me then (carefully!!) towards me. This opened up the locks, and transferred them onto the moving comb. There was some short nubby wool left on the comb. I pulled that off, and put it in the felt pile. Then I switched the full comb to my left hand, and started the process over again. After a couple of repeats, the wool looked like this. That is quite a difference from where I started! I pulled the tips of the wool into a point, and started pulling. I'd pull my fiber out a half inch or so, then move my hand forward and grab from the main bunch again. This had the effect of pulling out a long, continuous roving. This is ready to spin from now. The current plan is to spin this on a reproduction Medieval drop spindle, worsted style. This should give me a fine, strong warp thread. I stopped pulling the fibers when the bunch left on the combs were only an inch or so long. I figured that would be the thel that was left there. I pulled that off the combs, and ran it through my carders Here's the rolag off of the carders. The current plan is to spin this wool on my antique Great or Walking wheel, using the long draw. This should give me a fluffier yarn for my weft. And that 'felting' pile? When it got big enough, I went to the bathroom sink and made a felt ball for my cats to play with. They love these! The next step will be to spin up the couple of combs full of wool that I processed this evening, and see what the resulting yarn looks like.
A collection of medieval reproduction spindles based on various archeological finds. Check back for more data later The first one is based on medieval finds in Greenland, but the bulge is fatter here to make it a bit heavier. It is a dream to spin. The 2nd and 3rd spindles are Irish. I understand from the maker that these are upside down in the photograph. I disagree about the 2nd one. That knob at the top is BEGGING to anchor a half hitch, in my opinion. The 3rd is a distaff, according to the textile expert associated with the dig. I doubt it, frankly. But I haven’t had much success with it as a spindle so far. The 4th and 5th spindles are said to be more generic medieval European spindles. The 4th is a whorlless spindle. The two whorls are made to fit the 5th one. The wooden whorl is Irish -- I haven't found much evidence elsewhere in medieval Europe for wide, flat wooden whorls. The clay whorl I use to approximate medieval whorls found in England.
As I discussed here, many living historians learn how to spin from modern resources produced for modern crafters. These resources are vast, fantastic and what you find most readily when searching. …
I recently purchased a top-whorl spindle and a bottom-whorl spindle from this shop on Etsy. They came in the mail very quickly, and over th...
Golding Fiber Tools, producer of fine handcrafted tools for spinning and weaving.
There are many benefits of spinning yarn with a drop spindle. We will discuss how to use a drop spindle, so if you are brand new, this article is for you!
A spinning wheel without treadles? How does this work?
Using a drop spindle is a fun way to get started in the wide, wide world of hand spinning wool. The drop spindle is inexpensive to buy and an easy DIY project. We just finished a weekend at the Heart of New Mexico Fiber Gathering where I was able to demonstrate spindle spinning and visit with many people who are trying to learn how to spin yarn. These tips are my best advice for a beginning spindler. Don't feel frustrated until you've tried them all! 1. Watch someone spin with a drop spindle.I
Spinning Yarn: Yarn has been spun on spindles for thousands of years. With a little fiber and a spindle, you too can participate in this oldest of alchemies. This instructable will show you how to spin a single from wool roving, using a top-whorl spindle.
Make an easy drop spindle for less than two dollars.
Modern spinners are rediscovering the traditional Scottish spindle. It is as strong, practical, and dependable as the culture that created it.
In this studio project I hand spin six yarns for Andrea Mowry's Nightshift shawl. I explore fibre selection and colour placement, colour effects in the hand spun yarn, and the resulting fabric and hand-feel. Read More....
The Afro has been worn by such prominent figures as Angela Davis and Michael Jackson. More than a mere hairstyle, the Afro represents the overturning of racist beauty norms and the progress made during the Civil Rights Movement.
"The Victorian" Myrtlewood Top Whorl Drop Spindle "The Victorian" is our new signature spindle. Beautifully carved checkering and a lovely Victorian leaf motif adorns the whorl of this Oregon Myrtlewood top whorl drop spindle. This drop spindle measures 9 inches in length, and has a 2 1/2 inch diameter whorl. The weight of this spindle is 0.9 ounces. A brass hook has been inserted into the top. This top whorl drop spindle is currently for sale in our Etsy shop.
Spin Infinite Yarns with One AmazingTool
There’s quite a lot of technical language that you encounter when delving into the world of spinning instructions, and you’ll find yourself in an especially confusing place if you’…
Learn everything you need to know about drop spindle spinning including how to use a drop spindle, best practices and more in this introductory guide.
By Stephanie Flynn Sokolov
Kick Spindle Here are the pictures of my kick spindle. You don't really kick it, more of a push with your foot than a kick. I'm ...
By Denise Renee Grace
By Carrie Miller
Spring is slowly making an appearance in our neck of the woods. Very slowly indeed. After a few days of sunny weather and 8°C we’re back in the below zero region but thankfully no more snow on the ground. Still a bit of snow in the air and the occasional sleet shower though. Somehow winter
Learn everything you need to know about drop spindle spinning in this FREE spinning eBook that includes detailed instructions and more.
Alva Mac Gowan explores Ireland's traditional woven belt, the Crios. These colourful bands were normally worn with a waistcoat or bástchóta, and home-spun tweed trousers.
[blogged] da D.Ana, de 1947, que pertenceu à sua madrinha;
Handspinning has completely taken over my spare time lately. I work full time and commute for a total of three hours every day, so I need to set goals for my crafting to actually get things done. If I don't, I will just collapse on the sofa when I come home in the evening and do nothing. Sad but true. So a while ago, I decided to try to spin for an absolute minimum of eight hours per week (with a spindle - wheel spinning doesn't count). It's not much, but it's something and it has made a little difference - I'm getting faster for one thing! And since spinning for me partly consists of collapsing perching primly on the sofa anyway - see video below! - it's not even particularly taxing to keep it up. These days, I almost always spin with a distaff if I have the choice, twirling the spindle with one hand and drafting with the other. It wasn't love at first sight when I started learning this traditional and time-honoured technique, though. I think 'complete and utter frustration' sums up my initial feelings quite accurately. All aspirations of thread control went out the window and it was like starting all over again with only thick-and-thin, useless yarn as the result (useless for my purposes, that is. I don't do art yarn. Not at the moment, anyway). It took a fair amount of practice, but once I got the hang of it, it quickly became my preferred way of spinning. I went from total frustration to 'No more suspended spindling for me, EVER!' in less than 3 months. The distaff is a fantastic tool - it works as a third hand. Judging from how spinners are depicted in contemporary art, it also seems to be virtually ubiquitous to medieval spindle spinning (there are a few exceptions, of course, like in this early 13th century manuscript, and perhaps this one from the 14th century). Even when more or less suspended spinning is shown - as in this rather rare depiction of a top whorl spindle, for example - the distaff is still there, and the one-hand drafting technique, too: British Library, 'The Rutland Psalter', Add MS 62925 fol. 86r, c. 1260. With a distaff to hold the fibres, my hands are free to draft and twirl the spindle and it gives me a much better workning position than suspended spindling without a distaff does. I also find that it's much easier to control the amount of twist that goes into the thread this way (which is kind of important when you spin yarn for historical purposes). In addition, it completely removes the problem of back-spin - that annoying phenomenon when your thread has eaten all the momentum of the turning spindle and it starts going the other way while you're still busy drafting. Many medieval spindle whorls are small with a low moment of inertia, which means they spin fast, but stop turning really quickly and you have to restart them a lot to avoid back-spin when you're spinning suspended. And guess what - the distaff/spindle in hand-technique more or less takes the 'drop' out of 'drop spindle' (a term I've never really understood anyway - it has no Swedish equivalent; here we just have 'sländor' (spindles), plain and simple). Now I don't mind using my precious clay whorls on our hardwood floors at home, because even if the thread breaks, I don't drop them anymore. Here's a video of me spinning warp thread for weaving, with a distaff made out of a broom stick. When I've spun a length of thread, I stop drafting and add extra twist to it. As I relax the thread to unhitch the half hitch that keeps it on the spindle, I simultaneously check the twist by feeling the resistance as the thread curls back on itself. More and more medieval reenactors use a distaff and hand-held spindle when spinning these days. It's becoming quite a trend among historical fibre geeks! Usually, I'm not a huge fan of reenactment fads. Far too often they are based on scant sources and result in odd over-representations when suddenly the whole reenactment community is doing the same thing. And people often end up copying other reenactors rather than looking at the sources themselves, which is not the way to go in my opinion. But when it comes to distaffs and spinning, it's a trend that simply can't go wrong! It's raising the authenticity in reenactment displays by showing tools and techniques that were actually common and widespread both geographically and over time. In art, medieval distaffs appear to be around a metre in length, held under the arm, tucked into the belt, held between the knees while sitting or sometimes mounted on a stand. The Roman or ancient Greek tradition of short, hand-held distaffs doesn't seem to be the way to go for medieval spinning. I've found one medieval image - or rather a sculpture - with what might be a hand-held distaff. It's St Gertrude of Nivelles, a 7th century saint often portrayed spinning and surrounded by rats. However, it might just be that the rest of the distaff has broken off, but I couldn't tell by looking at the statue whether that was the case or not. It's a nice rat, though... St. Gertrude of Nivelles, wooden sculpture,1390-1400. Originally from Pfarrkirche St. Michael in Spiringen, Switzerland. Swiss National Museum, Zürich. Pix by Vix. As far as I know, not a whole lot of finds have been identified by archaeologists as distaffs. I mean, a lot of the time they would just be plain sticks, so there's not much to identify really. There's a medieval one from Schloss Gottorf in northern Germany (see below), though, and several distaff heads have been found at medieval Novgorod in Russia. From Staraia Ladoga, also in Russia, there are reported finds of distaffs from as early as the 9th century. Both the ones from Novgorod and those from Staraia Ladoga seem to be 'bat distaffs' with a top section shaped like a paddle, a type that remained popular in Russia well into the 19th century (Sherman 2008). It's not a type that seems to be depicted in European medieval manuscripts, though, and although similar distaffs exist here in Sweden from post-medieval times, I've decided to stick with the straight stick version for now. Although Novgorod traded a lot with Europe through the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages, I'm personally a little wary of using finds from such a relatively far-off place when my focus is southern Scandinavia/northern Germany (on the other hand, the huge amount of well-preserved wooden objects makes it very difficult not to glance eastwards to Novgorod every once in a while...). Medieval distaff (and also spindles and parts of niddy-noddies), Schloss Gottorf, Germany. Pix by Vix. There are many ways of dressing a distaff. The most commonly depicted versions in medieval manuscripts appear to fall into two (very!) broad categories: - the more or less fluffy fibre bundle, often tied in place by a narrow band - the cone-shaped fibre bundle, either tied with a band or with some sort of cloth (?) cover, or both. More images of medieval distaffs and spinning can be found over at my Pinterest board Medieval Fibre Preparation & Spinning, where I've also tried to add the original source for all the pins. 'The Holkham Bible', British Library, AddMss 47682, fol. 4v & 6r, 1320-30. A nun (St. Gertrude?) spinning in the company of a helpful cat. 'Maastricht Hours', British Library, Stowe MS 17, fol. 34r, 1st half of the 14th century. British Library, MS Royal 10 E IV, fol. 49v, early 14th century. Another one of those rarely depicted top whorl spindles! 'The Taymouth Hours', British Library, MS Yates Thompson 13, fol. 23v, 2nd quarter of the 14th century. Could this perhaps be an image showing the elusive practice of spinning dyed wool (see this previous post)? 'Ormesby Psalter', Bodleian Library, MS Douce 366, fol. 71v, c. 1310. Basically, it's perfectly possible to achieve all these different shapes using a simple straight stick as a distaff. The cone-shaped ones may have some sort of structure underneath, perhaps like a 'modern' (19th century) cage distaff or something similar, but it's difficult to tell from the contemporary images exactly what's hiding under the fibres. In some cases, it's obvious that the images show flax being spun rather than wool - if the spinner (or monkey, in the case of the illuminated manuscript below) is running the thread through their mouth, it's a pretty good indication of flax (or hemp) spinning, since it's commonly spun wet. A monkey spinning flax. British Library, Additional 18851 f459, 1480s. But sometimes people claim you can tell what fibre is being spun in an image just from the shape of the fibre bundle on the distaff. I'm not so sure. Medieval images just aren't detailed enough and most distaff shapes can actually be created with either wool or flax. It's just a matter of how you arrange the fibres. Wool can be gathered into long, thick tops that look very much like flax strick (hackled flax bundles) when tied to a distaff and flax, on the other hand, can be wrapped like candy floss around the distaff head. Which ends up looking rather round and fluffy and wool-like. Long fibres that hang straight down may of course be flax, but then again, this is what my distaff looks like when I'm spinning worsted wool: Combed wool from the double-coated Värmland sheep, a Swedish landrace breed. And this is how I go about dressing it: Top left image: hand-combed tops rolled into little 'bird's nests' for storage. Bottom left image: a wide band of woollen cloth (150x10 cm) with pieces of the tops arranged in layers. Right image: the band and wool rolled around the distaff and secured with a pin and a linen tie. A similar way of doing this can be found at Katrin Kania's blog A Stitchin Time: How I dress my distaff. Here's another way of getting the fibres onto the distaff; this works very well for industrially prepared tops or for hand-combed wool, but carded rolags can also be tied to the distaff in this way. Combed tops (or their modern counterpart) can also be wound around the distaff, as may be the case in this image: 'The Queen Mary Psalter', BL Royal 2 B VII, fol 158, between 1310 and 1320. Modern carded batts or hand-carded (or even just teased) wool collected into a big pile can be rolled into a nice little package like this... ...which looks a lot like the distaff arrangement in this image... 'Speculum humanae salvationis'. GKS 80 2o, fol. 6r, the first half of the 15th century. Det Konglige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. ...and also like the Virgin Mary's fibre bundle in this image (but without the angel): Virgin Mary, pregnant and spinning. Anonymous, c. 1410. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest. The package can be attached to the distaff at a jaunty angle as in the image above, or simply stuck unceremoniously onto the top of the distaff as it is: There! Let's start spinning already! As long as the fibres aren't too sticky, I've found that almost anything goes when it comes to dressing a distaff. A great messy tangle is fine - as long as it's possible to pull the wool off it one-handed, it'll work - but it will affect the thread. Snags, neps and sticky fibres on the distaff naturally make a less even thread, while carefully prepared wool really helps in spinning a smooth thread. Like so many other things, the end result owes so much to the preparations. I often use the tie around the bundle to control the flow of fibres, adjusting it to give me just enough resistance to draft against when I want a non-fuzzy thread. I personally find it helps with a little bit of resistance when I want a smooth thread, but for fluffier yarn I just let twist do most of the drafting for me. At the moment (in between sessions of spinning for weaving), I trying to learn how to do a proper woollen long draw, which of course requires yet another slightly different one-handed drafting technique. I'm starting to get some usable thread out of it now, and it's good practice for the day when I finally get myself a great wheel... References: Textiles tools from medieval Novgorod: http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/NovgorodfabricP.html Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volym 4: "From Flax to Linen in Medieval Rus Lands" - Heidi M. Sherman, 2008. Dressing distaffs: How I Dress My Distaff- A Stitch inTime So what IS just sogreat about adistaff? - 15th Century Spinning
So...on the trip to Alaska (still needs blogging...oops!) I found a beautiful yarn shop with some beautiful roving. Which led to me digging out my long dormant spindle and spinning some singles. I tried plying from a center pull ball and got this... Then, I tried winding off onto toilet paper (a makeshift bobbin)--and it crushed. So much for even tension. Then I tried the knitting needle through a box trick...and got knots. Blah. I almost lost the urge to keep spinning. But after fighting knotting for an hour or so, I did end up with some lovely two ply (and only a mild headache!), so I kept going. Well, after a nice trip around the web...I ran into some good ideas linked on the Homespun Life blog. After a few more links I ended up on a Ravelry thread that led me to this inspiring photo. So, I worked up my own plan, knowing I already needed to go to Home Depot for more moving boxes. DIY Lazy Kate (and bobbins) Materials: 3/4"x2" PVC Pipe (I got a 2' piece for $1.34) 1/4" dowel (about $0.75) 4 cabone rings (used for crochet) (~$3) 4 3/8 fender washers ($1) 5/16x3 carriage bolt ($0.32) 5/16 wing nut (you can change the type of bolt and wing nut, as long as they match) ($1.18) Twine or string Box with holes in it (try one of those big box stores...mine was from Big Lots) Tools: Coping saw (or other handsaw) Wood glue Super glue Emory board First, I estimated (guessed) the dowel length...make it longer than the width of your box. Then, make the bobbins. I cut the PVC about 2" shorter than the box width. Sand the edges with an emory board (or a metal file if you're lucky enough to have a well stocked tool box.) Use wood glue to attach two cabone rings together. Weight with cans (or clamps). Use super glue to attach the washers to the PVC pipe. Then, more super glue to add the washers to the cabone rings (bigger washers could've been helpful in this step). Weight again. Now, put it all together! I wound the twine around the cabone rings and estimated where the knot around the bolt should be. Then you can put the bolt through another hole, add the wing nut, and thighten things up until the tension is right for plying. There it is, my rigged, affordable Lazy Kate. I had no idea if this would actually work...but when I'm desperate and highly motivated, things come easier. Big thanks to Mandy for helping steady the pipe while I cut it! And big thanks to Mandy's hubby Tom for calling me the MacGyver of Crafts. Now I just need more singles for plying!
A blog about a journey to learning and perfecting my passion for fiber spinning, Fiber Art, Homemade crafts, etc.
In this second part of my series on Norse metaphysics, we're going to look at one of the most important, fascinating, and complicated terms in Norse magic: Seiðr (anglicized seid), a specific magical practice, closely associated with spinning and textile work, sexual taboos, and possibly trance an
By Maggie Casey
While digging in Must Farm, a Bronze Age settlement known as "Britain's Pompeii," British archaeologists unearthed yarn that is 3,000 years old. The ball is extremely small and fragile, and the team took great care to clean it off without damaging it, according to their Facebook page.
I've been spinning on a wheel since Christmas Day 2014, have been spinning on a drop spindle since October 2014, and became interested in spinning my own yarn (and obsessed with blogs, articles and youtube videos on anything to do with spinning fibers/dyeing fibers) since September 2014! Since December I have been enamored with this particular photo I took off from pinterest: NOT MY YARN or WORK... just showing a photo I took from pinterest that started my quest to make something of like quality! After I saw this picture, I believe I stared at it for 5 minutes straight... it's not just the colors that captured my attention, it was the way the colors were sporadic and sort of random but yet all in order... I can't explain it, but it was the most beautiful yarn i've seen! I knew right there and then, that this was my goal, this was the kind of yarn i'd pride myself on making! I searched the internet and asked other spinners how to get this kind of quality in my dyeing and hand spinning, majority I asked and searched purchased the rovings already dyed or already batted together on a drum carder and all they had to do was spin it. I didn't want that, I wanted to learn how to do it from scratch! So my journey began (since January when I got my dyes and raw fleece from tunis sheep and alpaca) to get this kind of yarn from my own fleece, dye and wheel! I tried dyeing the roving with a color here and a color there, but it all looked too "tie-dye" and spinning it, it looked really nice, but it wasn't what I truly desired! The colors were uniformed perfectly and I didn't want that at all... So, I tried again! This time, I tried spinning my roving naturally and then dye afterward sprinkling the colors I wanted here and there... Then I spun another bobbin of singles and dyed here and there and 2 plied these colors together, and it came out looking lovely! But no what I wanted!!!!! I proceeded to try spinning the roving (natural color) and try this same concept again, but I wasn't careful and ended up blending all my dyes together... but it came out as a side blessing because these colors came out!!! I was so shocked and pleasantly surprised and was so pleased that I remembered what dyes I put in and the amount and for how long (and of course wrote them down for future reference!), see? Accidents can be the best thing that can ever happen to you! ;) But still, I was determined! I would not stop until I got the yarn of my dreams that I made myself... I kept on looking online and asking around, but so far I wasn't getting anywhere new. One day, I was lying in bed and couldn't sleep (my husband can sleep so easily! I envy him... my mind is constantly thinking creative thoughts I can't turn it off sometimes! Ha ha!), so what do I do while i'm lying in bed? Go on pinterest and look at handspun yarn, dye tutorials, rustic handmade items and dream of our future land, home and sheep on our tiny homestead! While browsing the internet I came across fiber artists using drum carders and making beautiful batts, and others using large blending boards to make rolags. I watched with longing and admiration as they blended all these beautiful colored fibers on the blending board and roll it tight to make rolags... whoa... wait... "THERE IT IS!" I gasped and shot up in bed as my beloved moaned and groaned and said, "Baby, watching more spinning stuff?" and dosed to sleep... he knows me well, even while talking in his sleep. Ha ha! I needed to blend these colors not on a hackle (I tried that multiple times and didn't come out exactly as I wanted it), but on a blending board and roll it in rolags! Then I slumped down in my bed realizing, wait... I don't have a blending board, or one of those fancy dowels or sticks to roll up a rolag anyways... Sigh... Next morning, I was taking sadie girl for a walk (our big goofy blockhead of a pup!) not thinking much about my spinning adventure (sometimes I have to take a break from creativity!) listening to my youtube playlist (Zac Brown Band, Josh Turner and some Blake Shelton), when in the middle of our walk it dawned on me, I don't need a huge and expensive drum carder or blending board with it's fancy brush and dowels! I can just use what I have on me! Until I have enough money, I can just improvise! I rushed us home (sadie girl not happy at my interrupting her sniffing everything in sight) and took all my dyes out and began dyeing solid colors with each 4 oz. or so of my tunis/alpaca. No fancy dyeing here and there, just a mixture or colors blended to give the roving what color I wanted. I did 5 batches of the colors I wanted. Then I looked around in my crochet and crafting area for anything that would be useful for a brush and 2 dowels (as I had my hand carders which would serve as my blending board). I found two old crochet hooks and a clean old paint brush! So I began to blend! I started out with the forest green and added it to my carder sporadically (it wasn't entirely covering the carder perfectly) and brushed it down with my clean paint brush in order to add my other colors! I loved adding a roving that was not dyed at all to give it the white I wanted! I just placed it in 2 spots on my carder. In between the natural color I added another (in 3 spots as to not overlap the white just yet) . I added over the white another color... see what i'm doing here? With each application I brushed the fiber down... I only used a minimum amount as I didn't want to overwhelm the bristles! For this application (the purple) it wasn't my own fibers, but leftover merino I purchased when I first was learning how to spin on my wheel! No wasting here! Now it was time to use my dowels... er- crochet hooks! I placed one hook behind all my fibers on the carder, and the second in front, they were not placed evenly, but one was longer than the other. I then rolled the hooks down, and drafted with each roll gently... The reason why I had one hook remain longer than the other was when I was done rolling them, I can find one hook and push it out of my rolag and the other hook always finds the hole I pulled the other one from! This was my rolags (not entirely perfect but they did the job!) that I made with just 2 hand carders, old paint brush (clean) and 2 crochet hooks! I spun in this same pattern. Green-Red-Green-Red, etc... I decided I didn't want just "green" based yarn so I made another batch of rolags with a "wine" color like foundation and used the same colors I used for green but I added them to my carders backwards so it seems like the colors are slightly different which added a lot of beauty to my yarn! Below is a video I made (with the help of my beloved) that will detail how I made this gorgeous rustic rolags. After spinning singles for a while, look how absolutely gorgeous the rolags have spun on my bobbin!!!! After 4 months of mistakes and never giving up, I finally got it, I finally got the results I absolutely wanted and I am so HAPPY!!!!!! Then after I finished the very fine singles, I then plied it (Navajo ply). I just have to say, Navajo ply is nothing to run away and hide under your blanket! It's exactly like crocheting chains, except with your fingers! In my video, there is no voice as I have learned (self taught by watching youtube videos) that I learn better by muting sound and completely watching the movement! If you are that kind of learner, then you will enjoy... I hope. Ha ha! After 3 weeks of dyeing, blending, spinning and plying I got the yarn that I have worked so hard to attain! I named this yarn: Inspiration. Update: Right after taking photos of my finished yarn I dropped it twice on accident and each time it snagged and it became a tangled mess! Oh, I just wanted to cry!!!! 435 yards of complete tangled messiness! But I was not about to give up on putting this to skein once again! So for the past 4 days I have been very slowly and carefully detangling my gorgeous yarn, and so far I am almost done!!!! One thing I will say, i'm actually glad that happened. Why? So I can practice patience and a peaceful attitude! It also helped me appreciate all the work I put into it and to not take for granted that I have the blessing of being able to stay home full time as my darling husband works hard for me to do so and fulfill my dream! I love that husband of mine! I hope you all have enjoyed this post as I have enjoyed writing it, I am so thrilled to share with all who is reading this! Inspiration (230 yards) click on photo to be redirected to my Etsy Shop
We hear from Wingrove, near Aylsbury in Bucks., that a few Days ago, one Susanna Hannockes, an elderly Woman of that Place, was accused by a neighbour of being a Witch, for that she had bewi…
Identifier: yarnclothmakinge00kiss Title: Yarn and cloth making; an economic study; a college and normal schools text preliminary to fabric study, and a reference for teachers of industrial history and art in secondary and elementary schools Year: 1918 (1910s) Authors: Kissell, Mary Lois Subjects: Textile industry Spinning Weaving Publisher: New York, The Macmillian company Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Fig. 4. — The Navajo Method of Spinning The Indian is drafting the rove preparatory to twisting, for which the upperspindle-arm is rolled along the thigh. Text Appearing After Image: Fig. 5. — A Kwakiutl Indian Spinner Here the lower spind.e-arm is rolled on the lower 1for twisting. SPINNING TYPES 2$ B. Spinning implement: a small spindle standing erecton ground, in a shell, or in a cup.Other details as in ^. Outline Examples: A. Navajo; Kwakiutl; Pima; B. Mexi-can tribes ; Some Philippine tribes.Implement — Small supported spindle with 1. shaft. 2. whorl.Power — Hand (13).Motion. — A. Three processes separate (ll, lie). B. Intermittent spinning (lid). 1. attenuating and twisting (compound process). 2. winding. Process — Stretching with left hand (12). Twisting with spindle controlled by right hand {B puts in more twist than A).Winding with both hands. 1. Rove prepared by Hand-on-thigh spinning, or by modern hand cards. 2. Prepared rove, or carding, drawn out and fed to spindle (8, 8b, 8b2, e). A. before twisting. B. while twisting. 3. Twisting. A. Palm rotates spindle placed lengthwise onthigh (9, 9b). a. upper arm of spindle rests on thigh. b. lower ar Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
Spinning Yarn: Yarn has been spun on spindles for thousands of years. With a little fiber and a spindle, you too can participate in this oldest of alchemies. This instructable will show you how to spin a single from wool roving, using a top-whorl spindle.
By Debbie HeldIf you’ve avoided spinning cotton on your wheel because of the fiber’s reputed need for special equipment or you’ve heard that it’s a difficult spin, have I got news for you: neither of these things is definitively true. With some basic knowledge, a bit of practice, and even just your fast-speed whorl (at a 15:1 ratio), you’ll be spinning cotton in no time.(Note: On my Sidekick, I used the smaller groove on the high-speed whorl. Due to the wheel’s unique build, the ratio came in at about 15:1—plenty fast for me. You may prefer a higher ratio. If using a wheel in double drive, be sure to use high-speed bobbins with the small end towards the whorl.)Here’s what is true: Fiber harvested from the cotton plant is notoriously fine and short stapled, which seems to be the hurdle for most wool-loving spinners.A woolen draw and a high twist are its optimal companions. Thin or thinnish singles are recommended. (I like mine at 22 twists per inch.) Draft only to the staple’s mid-point for best results.
There’s quite a lot of technical language that you encounter when delving into the world of spinning instructions, and you’ll find yourself in an especially confusing place if you’…
Handspinning has completely taken over my spare time lately. I work full time and commute for a total of three hours every day, so I need to set goals for my crafting to actually get things done. If I don't, I will just collapse on the sofa when I come home in the evening and do nothing. Sad but true. So a while ago, I decided to try to spin for an absolute minimum of eight hours per week (with a spindle - wheel spinning doesn't count). It's not much, but it's something and it has made a little difference - I'm getting faster for one thing! And since spinning for me partly consists of collapsing perching primly on the sofa anyway - see video below! - it's not even particularly taxing to keep it up. These days, I almost always spin with a distaff if I have the choice, twirling the spindle with one hand and drafting with the other. It wasn't love at first sight when I started learning this traditional and time-honoured technique, though. I think 'complete and utter frustration' sums up my initial feelings quite accurately. All aspirations of thread control went out the window and it was like starting all over again with only thick-and-thin, useless yarn as the result (useless for my purposes, that is. I don't do art yarn. Not at the moment, anyway). It took a fair amount of practice, but once I got the hang of it, it quickly became my preferred way of spinning. I went from total frustration to 'No more suspended spindling for me, EVER!' in less than 3 months. The distaff is a fantastic tool - it works as a third hand. Judging from how spinners are depicted in contemporary art, it also seems to be virtually ubiquitous to medieval spindle spinning (there are a few exceptions, of course, like in this early 13th century manuscript, and perhaps this one from the 14th century). Even when more or less suspended spinning is shown - as in this rather rare depiction of a top whorl spindle, for example - the distaff is still there, and the one-hand drafting technique, too: British Library, 'The Rutland Psalter', Add MS 62925 fol. 86r, c. 1260. With a distaff to hold the fibres, my hands are free to draft and twirl the spindle and it gives me a much better workning position than suspended spindling without a distaff does. I also find that it's much easier to control the amount of twist that goes into the thread this way (which is kind of important when you spin yarn for historical purposes). In addition, it completely removes the problem of back-spin - that annoying phenomenon when your thread has eaten all the momentum of the turning spindle and it starts going the other way while you're still busy drafting. Many medieval spindle whorls are small with a low moment of inertia, which means they spin fast, but stop turning really quickly and you have to restart them a lot to avoid back-spin when you're spinning suspended. And guess what - the distaff/spindle in hand-technique more or less takes the 'drop' out of 'drop spindle' (a term I've never really understood anyway - it has no Swedish equivalent; here we just have 'sländor' (spindles), plain and simple). Now I don't mind using my precious clay whorls on our hardwood floors at home, because even if the thread breaks, I don't drop them anymore. Here's a video of me spinning warp thread for weaving, with a distaff made out of a broom stick. When I've spun a length of thread, I stop drafting and add extra twist to it. As I relax the thread to unhitch the half hitch that keeps it on the spindle, I simultaneously check the twist by feeling the resistance as the thread curls back on itself. More and more medieval reenactors use a distaff and hand-held spindle when spinning these days. It's becoming quite a trend among historical fibre geeks! Usually, I'm not a huge fan of reenactment fads. Far too often they are based on scant sources and result in odd over-representations when suddenly the whole reenactment community is doing the same thing. And people often end up copying other reenactors rather than looking at the sources themselves, which is not the way to go in my opinion. But when it comes to distaffs and spinning, it's a trend that simply can't go wrong! It's raising the authenticity in reenactment displays by showing tools and techniques that were actually common and widespread both geographically and over time. In art, medieval distaffs appear to be around a metre in length, held under the arm, tucked into the belt, held between the knees while sitting or sometimes mounted on a stand. The Roman or ancient Greek tradition of short, hand-held distaffs doesn't seem to be the way to go for medieval spinning. I've found one medieval image - or rather a sculpture - with what might be a hand-held distaff. It's St Gertrude of Nivelles, a 7th century saint often portrayed spinning and surrounded by rats. However, it might just be that the rest of the distaff has broken off, but I couldn't tell by looking at the statue whether that was the case or not. It's a nice rat, though... St. Gertrude of Nivelles, wooden sculpture,1390-1400. Originally from Pfarrkirche St. Michael in Spiringen, Switzerland. Swiss National Museum, Zürich. Pix by Vix. As far as I know, not a whole lot of finds have been identified by archaeologists as distaffs. I mean, a lot of the time they would just be plain sticks, so there's not much to identify really. There's a medieval one from Schloss Gottorf in northern Germany (see below), though, and several distaff heads have been found at medieval Novgorod in Russia. From Staraia Ladoga, also in Russia, there are reported finds of distaffs from as early as the 9th century. Both the ones from Novgorod and those from Staraia Ladoga seem to be 'bat distaffs' with a top section shaped like a paddle, a type that remained popular in Russia well into the 19th century (Sherman 2008). It's not a type that seems to be depicted in European medieval manuscripts, though, and although similar distaffs exist here in Sweden from post-medieval times, I've decided to stick with the straight stick version for now. Although Novgorod traded a lot with Europe through the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages, I'm personally a little wary of using finds from such a relatively far-off place when my focus is southern Scandinavia/northern Germany (on the other hand, the huge amount of well-preserved wooden objects makes it very difficult not to glance eastwards to Novgorod every once in a while...). Medieval distaff (and also spindles and parts of niddy-noddies), Schloss Gottorf, Germany. Pix by Vix. There are many ways of dressing a distaff. The most commonly depicted versions in medieval manuscripts appear to fall into two (very!) broad categories: - the more or less fluffy fibre bundle, often tied in place by a narrow band - the cone-shaped fibre bundle, either tied with a band or with some sort of cloth (?) cover, or both. More images of medieval distaffs and spinning can be found over at my Pinterest board Medieval Fibre Preparation & Spinning, where I've also tried to add the original source for all the pins. 'The Holkham Bible', British Library, AddMss 47682, fol. 4v & 6r, 1320-30. A nun (St. Gertrude?) spinning in the company of a helpful cat. 'Maastricht Hours', British Library, Stowe MS 17, fol. 34r, 1st half of the 14th century. British Library, MS Royal 10 E IV, fol. 49v, early 14th century. Another one of those rarely depicted top whorl spindles! 'The Taymouth Hours', British Library, MS Yates Thompson 13, fol. 23v, 2nd quarter of the 14th century. Could this perhaps be an image showing the elusive practice of spinning dyed wool (see this previous post)? 'Ormesby Psalter', Bodleian Library, MS Douce 366, fol. 71v, c. 1310. Basically, it's perfectly possible to achieve all these different shapes using a simple straight stick as a distaff. The cone-shaped ones may have some sort of structure underneath, perhaps like a 'modern' (19th century) cage distaff or something similar, but it's difficult to tell from the contemporary images exactly what's hiding under the fibres. In some cases, it's obvious that the images show flax being spun rather than wool - if the spinner (or monkey, in the case of the illuminated manuscript below) is running the thread through their mouth, it's a pretty good indication of flax (or hemp) spinning, since it's commonly spun wet. A monkey spinning flax. British Library, Additional 18851 f459, 1480s. But sometimes people claim you can tell what fibre is being spun in an image just from the shape of the fibre bundle on the distaff. I'm not so sure. Medieval images just aren't detailed enough and most distaff shapes can actually be created with either wool or flax. It's just a matter of how you arrange the fibres. Wool can be gathered into long, thick tops that look very much like flax strick (hackled flax bundles) when tied to a distaff and flax, on the other hand, can be wrapped like candy floss around the distaff head. Which ends up looking rather round and fluffy and wool-like. Long fibres that hang straight down may of course be flax, but then again, this is what my distaff looks like when I'm spinning worsted wool: Combed wool from the double-coated Värmland sheep, a Swedish landrace breed. And this is how I go about dressing it: Top left image: hand-combed tops rolled into little 'bird's nests' for storage. Bottom left image: a wide band of woollen cloth (150x10 cm) with pieces of the tops arranged in layers. Right image: the band and wool rolled around the distaff and secured with a pin and a linen tie. A similar way of doing this can be found at Katrin Kania's blog A Stitchin Time: How I dress my distaff. Here's another way of getting the fibres onto the distaff; this works very well for industrially prepared tops or for hand-combed wool, but carded rolags can also be tied to the distaff in this way. Combed tops (or their modern counterpart) can also be wound around the distaff, as may be the case in this image: 'The Queen Mary Psalter', BL Royal 2 B VII, fol 158, between 1310 and 1320. Modern carded batts or hand-carded (or even just teased) wool collected into a big pile can be rolled into a nice little package like this... ...which looks a lot like the distaff arrangement in this image... 'Speculum humanae salvationis'. GKS 80 2o, fol. 6r, the first half of the 15th century. Det Konglige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. ...and also like the Virgin Mary's fibre bundle in this image (but without the angel): Virgin Mary, pregnant and spinning. Anonymous, c. 1410. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest. The package can be attached to the distaff at a jaunty angle as in the image above, or simply stuck unceremoniously onto the top of the distaff as it is: There! Let's start spinning already! As long as the fibres aren't too sticky, I've found that almost anything goes when it comes to dressing a distaff. A great messy tangle is fine - as long as it's possible to pull the wool off it one-handed, it'll work - but it will affect the thread. Snags, neps and sticky fibres on the distaff naturally make a less even thread, while carefully prepared wool really helps in spinning a smooth thread. Like so many other things, the end result owes so much to the preparations. I often use the tie around the bundle to control the flow of fibres, adjusting it to give me just enough resistance to draft against when I want a non-fuzzy thread. I personally find it helps with a little bit of resistance when I want a smooth thread, but for fluffier yarn I just let twist do most of the drafting for me. At the moment (in between sessions of spinning for weaving), I trying to learn how to do a proper woollen long draw, which of course requires yet another slightly different one-handed drafting technique. I'm starting to get some usable thread out of it now, and it's good practice for the day when I finally get myself a great wheel... References: Textiles tools from medieval Novgorod: http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/NovgorodfabricP.html Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volym 4: "From Flax to Linen in Medieval Rus Lands" - Heidi M. Sherman, 2008. Dressing distaffs: How I Dress My Distaff- A Stitch inTime So what IS just sogreat about adistaff? - 15th Century Spinning
the knot …
About two years ago I saw a snapshot of a DIY turkish spindle on Ravelry. It inspired me to build something that I like to call paleo spindle for myself. Of course I have no proof that something like that was actually used in the Paleolithic but I would imagine that it is quiet possible considering that it's build from stuff readily available in nature and does need nothing more than stone age ...
