Hand Spinning is the art of creating yarn or thread from fiber by twisting the strands around each other.
History
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Every ancient culture made some type of fibrous thread/rope that would be used as tools or coverings. The earliest spinning was done in the hands or on the thigh. While this worked, it was not the best as the newly spun fiber piled up and tangled. Simple sticks were used by running them down the thigh while holding the fiber at an angle to the tip. As the length of twisted fiber became too long to work with it was wrapped around the stick and the process repeated itself until the resulting yarn 'cop' on the stick was too large to roll down the thigh.
History
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The earliest spinning probably involved simply twisting the fibres in the hand. Later a stick, called a spindle, was used to add the twist and hold the twisted fiber. Usually a whorl or weight stabilizes the spindle. The spindle is spun and twists the fiber until it becomes yarn. The spindle may be suspended or supported. Later the spinning wheel was developed which allowed continuous and faster yarn production. Spinning wheels may be foot, hand or electrically powered.
Modern powered spinning, originally done by water or steam power but now done by electricity, is vastly faster than hand-spinning.
Hobby or small scale artisan spinners spin their own yarn to control specific yarn qualities and produce yarn not commercially available. They also may spin for self-sufficiency, sense of accomplishment, or sense of connection to history and the land. And, of course, for the meditative qualities of spinning.
Materials
editMaterials that can be used to create yarn fall into three broad classes: plant, animal, and synthetic.
- Plant fibers: cotton, flax (to produce linen), ramie, hemp, nettle, raffia, yucca, coconut husk, and soy(soysilk)
- Animal materials: wool, goat (angora, or cashmere goat), rabbit (angora), llama, alpaca, dog, camel, yak, qiviut, and silk
- Manufactured fibers: nylon, rayon(derived from wood pulp), acetate, polyester, tencel(derived from wood pulp), and ingeo(derived from corn)
Soy is unique in that while it is a plant fiber, its protein content accepts dye like animal fiber
In Books and stories
edit- Rumpelstiltskin: After a miller boasts to the king that his daughter can turn grain into gold, the daughter finds herself thrown in a dungeon with orders to spin straw into gold.
In Mythology
editIn Greek mythology, Clotho spins the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle.
See also
editExternal links
edit- Interweave Spin-Off - popular spinning magazine
- Hand Spinners.com - spinning links directory, fiber resources
- Hampshire Spinning Guild - glossary of spinning terms, and pictures
- Joy of Hand Spinning - video instruction
- ICanSpin.com - video instruction
- NY State Sheep & Wool Festival - New York State Sheep & Wool Festival
- Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival - Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival; America's largest, with over 60,000 people in attendance each year.