Spinning is the simple act of drawing out fibres and twisting them together to form a yarn. This process dates back to pre-history.

Before woven fabric there was yarn!

A bit of History:

By the 13th century, spinning wheels are documented in Europe and were a standard piece of equipment in many homes, where the production of fabric was a cottage industry.

The earliest finds depicting some types of “yarn” are related to bone sculptures. The Gravettian‘Venus’ Figurines, depicts women wearing string skirts and other string adornments and date back to ca. 20,000 BC.

Spun fibres were first made by hand and with sticks. The first example of spindle whorls I have found documented is from the north Chinese Middle to Late Neolithic, ca 3000-6000 B.P., and this way of spinning extended for most of the history of humankind…

There is some controversy regarding the apparition of spinning wheels. Some experts believe that they originated in India between 500 and 1000 A.D. Other experts indicate that it was invented in the Islamic world by 1030 AD and spread to China by 1090.

By the 13th century, spinning wheels are documented in Europe and were a standard piece of equipment in many homes, where the production of fabric was a cottage industry!

Types of Spinning wheels & their parts

There are many different types of spinning wheels, including the Great Wheel (or walking wheel), which was probably the first type of wheel, where the yarn was spun using one hand to turn the wheel and the other one to draft the fibre. There are great resources online where you can see the great wheel spinning: https://youtu.be/Ooh1RCfiHHI

Other types of wheels are the castle wheel (like mine), the Norwegian wheel, the Saxony… so many variations! But, although they may look different, most of them have very similar parts with such cool names as the maidens, the mother of all, the treadle, the footman, the flyer… explaining all of that is more than I can fit in this post, so here are couple of cool links

https://joyofhandspinning.com/styles-of-the-spinning-wheel/

https://www.lavisch.com/site/the-anatomy-of-a-spinning-wheel/

The flyer & the bobbin

…. How did I started spinning and why do I love it?

I started spinning because I am the kind of person that when I go to a restaurant and really like something my first though is…. mmmmh I wonder if I could make it at home?? 

So, naturally, when I started knitting and had yarn on my hand, always wondered if I could make my own yarn! Next logical step… buy a spindle… after I spun the yarn for my first shawl, again I took the next logical step… I bought a spinning wheel!

Why I love spinning? Well, it has everything! You can spin very controlled yarns, with your fibre of choice (wool, alpaca, silk, nettle, cotton….) and desired characteristics (worsted vs woollen, thick or thin), but you can also experiment and feel free to create the craziest of art yarns!

On top of that spinning is a very therapeutic activity, it allows you to relax, concentrate in an internal rhythm and enter “the zone”!

When I spin, I have a strange feeling of connection with our traditional knowledge. It always makes me think how many hands have made the same moments throughout history, in my mind I like to invent their life’s, it’s like writing a historic novel with my hands.

And what can connect you to a traditional way of spinning more than using a book charkha to spin cotton!