A Tiny Epiphany

I had a tiny epiphany last week.

I saw a YouTube video about handspinning--(not sure if it was the same video I'm attaching to this post) and I realized something that hadn't occurred to me before.

A hand spindle is nothing more than a stick--often a  stick that is tapered at both ends and thickest in the middle.  It's used to twist raw fiber into a smooth strong thread.  During the Middle Ages, whorls (the weight that makes the spindle spin at a particular rate to twist the fiber) were not permanently glued to the stick.  That not only means they could be easily replaced if the whorl broke, but they could be swapped out for different whorls.  Being able to change whorls matters because in general, the lighter the whorl is, the more twist it imparts to the fiber, and the finer the resulting thread is likely to be.  Heavier weights tend to result in slower spinning, the better to make thicker threads that need less twist.

All of that I had known before.  But what I realized in watching the video is that a spinner could use more than one whorl to obtain the particular speed of spin of a spindle.  (Take a look at the video above starting at about 1:47).  That means she could, at least in theory, change the spindle weight in tiny increments to achieve the type of thread she wanted to make.  It could also be used to improve the performance of a particular spindle/whorl combination, as Lois Swales indicates in the video.

It goes to show that one should never assume one knows everything about a particular subject; thinking about a topic from a different angle can result in new knowledge.

My New Spindle

For no reason I can easily explain, I recently decided that I needed to own a drop spindle, preferably one with a soapstone whorl, like some of the Viking finds.

So I bought the spindle shown in the photo from a nice neopagan who trades as Mengloth's Market. I received the spindle on Friday. Upon opening the box, I saw that the spindle I had received both was and wasn't what I was hoping for. On the plus side, the soapstone whorl is beautiful in shape, and (so far as I can tell) has good balance and spin. But the minus side is that the spindle stick is an ordinary lacquered dowel with hooks screwed on both the top and the bottom. I don't have a problem with the two hooks, since I think it will be easier to learn to spin with the hooks present, and the fact that there are hooks on both top and bottom will let me experiment with both top and bottom whorl spinning. Moreover, I have discovered by careful experiment that I can simply remove the hooks by unscrewing them, if I want to cut notches in the stick at a later date. No, the disappointing part is that the whorl appears to be glued in place. So much for my buying a spindle stick from Katrin to use with it. :-( But for better or worse, I now own a spindle.

Now that I own a spindle, I need to learn how to spin. Since I can't imagine trying to learn this craft, which requires the continuous use of two hands, from a book (that would need to be held open, and have pages turned from time to time), I went looking on YouTube for good video tutorials. Of the video tutorials I've found so far, this one by Megan LaCore and this one by Abby Franquemont appear to be the clearest and easiest to understand. Though I also enjoyed this one, titled simply and anonymously "Spinning on a Drop spindle While Arguing With my mother"; it shows what the teenage spinner is doing almost as clearly as the videos intended to be tutorials.

When I actually obtain some roving, I will sit down with one of the videos one day when I have time and energy, and see what I can manage to learn. In the meantime, if any of my readers have any suggestions 1) for tutorials to look for; 2) sources of roving, or 3) any other advice. I'm always eager to listen!