What are we doing around the homestead this week? I’ve started spinning some corridale roving I got online from Wicked Tints (https://fiberartistmarket.com/vendors/wicked-tints-yarns/).
The colorway is Sherwood Forest. I really like it. I’m spinning the yarn using the sliding long-draw method. This method is easy to learn, the key being to have just enough draw on the wheel to make the single yarn dawn in when I stop pulling back on it.
I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. I should first provide some background information… Spinning yarn is a VERY old craft. Archeological evidence of spindle whorls have been found dating back at least 70 THOUSAND years. Current theory is that both Homosapien Sapien (us) and Homosapien Neanderthalsis (Neanderthal) spun yarn. People have been making thread & rope for a very long time indeed. Thread or twine are also used in basket making, for weaving mats and for binding things together. Can you imagine trying to make any tools without thread or twine? I wouldn’t accomplish much in my daily life without them.
Simply spinning can be done on a stick. (In spinning language – a spindle). You hold the fiber you want twisted in one hand and twirl the stick with the other. By controlling the amount of fiber that gets twisted, you can make the size twine you desire. That sounds very easy, but takes some practice.
Many people around the world still produce their yarn on a spindle. The shape of the spindle varies from culture to culture, but they all perform the same function. There are many videos on YouTube demonstrating the use of a spindle. Several strands of a “single” can be plied together to produce the yarn in the desired thickness. I usually spin my yarn on an antique spinning wheel my husband put together for me from 3 different broken wheels. The base of my wheel is marked 1853. The wheel section is unmarked. The flyer & bobbins are modern. I call it my “Frankenstein” wheel.
If you’d like to see me spinning, here’s a video I made for my niece in Pennsylvania several years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lglldmu-etA&t=6s I learned to spin in 1988. I learned very quickly & have loved spinning ever since. I can’t tell you how many miles of yarn I’ve spun. I’m sure I’ve reached the moon & back. I use my handspun mostly for knitting. Sometimes I crochet or weave with it.
I love to knit lace, so I spin most of my yarn very fine. I’m knitting a lace cape with my handspun right now.There are several nice groups on Facebook focusing on spinning.
One group, the Ozarks Fiber Group will be meeting at my house on August 28th, 2021. If you’re interested in meeting new people or learning to spin please let me know. I can be reached through my Facebook page. I’d be happy to teach you.
Some spinning resources:Spin-Off magazine: https://spinoffmagazine.com/
Hands on Spinning by Lee Raven: https://www.amazon.com/Hands-Spinning-Lee-Raven/dp/0934026270
The Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos:
Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years, Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber: https://www.amazon.com/Womens-Work-First-Years-Society/dp/0393313484
