spinning-msg – 1/19/08
Spinning wheels, spindles. techniques. History of spinning wheels.
NOTE: See also the files: linen-msg, silk-msg, wool-hist-msg, cotton-art, weaving-msg, dyeing-msg, knitting-msg, wool-clean-msg, looms-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: ilaine at panix.com (Liz Stokes)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: biblio, sails, shoes, & lead
Date: 22 Jul 1993 06:45:11 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC
priest at vaxsar.vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman) writes:
>p. 132) But for hands-on graphic evidence I have Ilaine de Cameron to thank.
>She showed me untreated wool from a double-coated modern sheep (a throwback
>breed) and a pair of vicious looking woolcombs. We know the Vikings had and
>used both: woolcombs and double-coated sheep. Then she demonstrated what
>happens when you comb the wool the way the sources agree that the Vikings did:
>the long kemp comes away all nice and straight, leaving behind the the softer,
>shorter, shinier stuff that all clings together. (Ilaine, if you're out there,
>jump in any time!)
Sure! For what it's worth I have several sets of wool combs, and
I've found the Viking combs far more effective for separating a double coat
than the Medieval English style. The English combs hold more wool, and I think
make a nicer roving but they seem better suited to a medium to longwool fleece
of uniform type.
-Ilaine
--
Liz Stokes | Ilaine's E-Z Garb Workshop ... Okay, now take the fabric
Ilaine de Cameron | off the loom (or away from the kittens). It needs to be
| finished. Just find some fullers' earth, a convenient
ilaine at panix.com | stream, and some husky peasants to pound it with rocks.
From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: carding in period
Date: 12 Oct 93 09:32:38
Organization: STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow, UK.
> Carding being OOP
Depends on the precise period you are out of, but a wooden object
found in a hiberno-norse settlement in Dublin Ireland has been
identified as a wool carder, or at any rate the back of one.
I have no idea what the grounds for the identification were, but it
definately wasn't a comb, as it had no holes for the teeth.
Jennifer
Vanaheim vikings
(nfps not SCA, but I was passing the Rialto & stopped for a chat)
p.s. hiberno-norse = irish vikings
From: jgm at helios.tn.cornell.EDU (James McLean)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: wool carding in period?
Date: 18 Oct 1993 21:07:36 -0400
There have been a few notes discussing whether carding of wool happened in
period, or if wool was only processed with combing. I have absolutely no
knowledge in the area, but I happened to come across the following.
It's from _Renaissance_ by John Hale via TIME-LIFE Books, on page 79 and
refering to the wool trade in Florence during the rennaissance...
> COMBING the wool separated the long strands from the short tufts of fuzz.
> Then the long strands, wound on wooden blocks, went directly to the
> spinners. The tufts were used too, but first had to be prepared by carders.
>
> CARDING was a scraping process applied to lower-grade wool. Spreading the
> wool on wicker frames, workers untangled it with wire scrapers - tools so
> efficient Florence forbade anyone to take them out of the city.
Hope this is helpful/interesting. Does it make sense to any of the
wool-wise folk out there?
--Matteo Sassetti
From: Sheri.Stanley at p911.f1066.n374.z1.fidonet.org (Sheri Stanley)
Date: 08 Jan 94 11:17:03 -0500
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: silk, was Re: Expensive Authenticity
Organization: Fidonet:The Blue Barrel Brewery (1:374/1066.911)
kc> There are two kinds of silk that are some-times called "raw silk"-+-
kc> one is silk noil, which is made by washing and spinning the short
kc> fibers from broken caccoons, and the other is tussah silk, which is
kc> made from the coccoons of other types of mothes which eat other things
kc> than mulberries.
You are, of course, correct - did I not differentiate in my post? Sigh. The
baby is sucking my brains out again.
kc> as mulbery-worm silk, and it's base color is never pure white. I
kc> don't know where else it is worked, i have seldom seen it on the
kc> market, and when i do it is out-rageously expensive.
Shrug. Maybe it's your area...I've occasionally found Tussah for $4-$6 per
yard (though $10-12 is more common). Check out Thai Silks (their address is
in the back of Sew News magazine),they have reasonable prices on silks (and
great quarterly sales!)
kc> I love silk noil--it has all the warm-but-cool properties you expect
kc> in natural fabrics, it has a wonderfull drape and hand, and all though
Ever tried to spin it? Eek! What a pain in the butt. I've given up trying to
get good, consistent yarn from the noil rovings I can buy here, and started
using it carded w/other fibers (works *fantastic* carded w/merino!). I love
it, too...it gets *so* soft when you wash it, and it keeps you toasty warm in
winter!
Grania
From: Tom Perigrin (4/14/94)
To: markh at sphinx
oak spears?
Sorry for the delay on replying...
A "walking wheel" is a type of spinning wheel that one uses while standing
up. In fact, one walks back and forth and back and forth... The wheel is
anywhere from 3' to 5' in diameter, but it is also wide, but thin! I make
them out of 3" wide 1/8 thick oak. (They don't have to bear much force).
<snip>
Yours,
Ld. Thomas Ignatius Pergrinus
From: rosalind at kenton.iii.net (Donna Kenton)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Lace Making
Date: 22 Nov 1994 13:04:34 GMT
Organization: iii.net subscriber
In article <0Di5Vc4w165w at bregeuf.stonemarche.org>, una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk) says:
>> Also, I'm tempted to dabble in spinning; how hard is it to find a spinning
>> wheel? Are spinning wheels terribly expensive?
>>
Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine, at 800-341-0282 has wheels, books, and
fibers as well as qualified help. Everyone there knows different fiber
arts, and they'll transfer you to someone who can help you.
Also, I've started spinning this summer, and it you'd like to talk about
this through E-mail, that would great.
Rosalinde De Witte
From: corliss at hal.physics.wayne.EDU (David J. Corliss)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Lace making - Ann Arbor
Date: 21 Nov 1994 10:37:11 -0500
Organization: The Internet
Greetings from Beorthwine-
While I do not know of anyone making lace in Cynnabar (Ann Arbor), there
is some very good work being done near by.
By any chance, have you spoken with Lady Persephone, the (new) Arts and
Sciences officer there, or to Lady Arianna, who has just become the
Regional A&S officer? Your local officers should always be an excellent
point of contact for such questions. Certainly those in Cynnabar are very
good.
You will want to contact Lady Jeanne Anne le Bonnetiere, (Nancy Evans on
Edsel in Clinton Township, about an hour and fifteen minute drive from
Ann Arbor). Her work is excellent and she is a fine teacher. She is well
aquainted with others doing this kind of work in the area.
You mention that you are also interested in spinning. While I do not
spin, I have generally heard it recomended that a gentle begin spinning
with a drop spindle. Certainly, apart from other considerations, it
seems wise to put off buying a spinning wheel until one has determined a
considerable interest in the subject. Drop spindles with round whorls are
readily available at many SCA events and in stores catering to spinners
and weavers: you will certainly want to visit Traditional Handcrafts in
Northville, about 40 minutes away. From my own experience, having been
told by several people that Turkish/Palestinian/Double arm spindles (all the
same thing) are far superior to those with round whorls when spinning
medium to heavy yarns (whorls still being preferred for supported
spinning): they wobble far less, and hence waste very little energy.
Nearly all the available energy goes into the spinning, and they spin
much longer with less difficulties, for the same effort. Unfortunately,
they are hard to come by. I make them (they are truly are trivial to make)
and, as I will be at the Cynnabar Wassail next month, I can show you one.
Also in attendance will be Lady Estrella of Trinity, the fairest and most
graceful of ladies, who is also an accomplished spinner and teacher. She
swears by the Turkish spindle and has several of them. Ask her to show
you her work: she has a talent for getting people to start to spin
(basic heavy wool yarn) on the spot. See you there!
Beorthwine of Grafham Wood, one-time Cynnabar MOS
From: corliss at hal.physics.wayne.EDU (David J. Corliss)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Turkish/Palestinian/Double Arm Spindles
Date: 21 Nov 1994 11:07:13 -0500
Greetings to all from Beorthwine of Grafham Wood-
These spindles are very simple to make and work better than drop spidles
with round whorls for medium to heavy yarns. I have not seen one that
works well for light threads and a supported spindle with a small light
whorl is better for such material.
(David Corliss, the physicist, butts in here: I don't know anything about
spinning but understand tops well. Turkish spindles are superior because
the nutations ("wobbles") are heavily damped (go away quickly): if you
set one spinning and deliberately make it wobble, this disturbance
quickly vanishes. Thus, a much higher portion of the applied effort goes
into spinning the fibers and less is dissipated, giving a spindle that
spins far longer and straighter for the same effort.)
Make a solid piece of wood eight inches long, 3/4 to one inch wide,
and 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick. Make another. Smooth _very_ carefully
and thoroughly. Drill a quarter inch diameter hole through the center of
both pieces. Cut a ten inch lenth of quarter inch diameter dowel rod and
put a dull point at one end. That's it!
___________________________________________________________
l l
l X <-- 1/4 inch hole l
l l
-----------------------------------------------------------
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
------------------
l
v
Hold the whole thing together by wrapping a length of yarn around it.
Wrap the yarn you spin about it in the same fashion. When you are done,
just pull out the rod and the other pieces will come out as well, leaving
a neat ball ready for weaving.
Beorthwine of Grafham Wood
From: hrjones at uclink.berkeley.edu (Heather Rose Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Spinning/Lace Making
Date: 26 Nov 1994 16:42:45 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
: Also, I'm tempted to dabble in spinning; how hard is it to find a spinning
: wheel? Are spinning wheels terribly expensive?
: Pattie Rayl
Yes, they do tend to be expensive. (Mine cost close to $300 a decade and
a half ago.) But fortunately, you don't need a wheel to start learning to
spin. Spinning with a drop spindle is very cheap on the equipment side,
authentic for any part of the SCA period, and in my opinion an easier way
to learn spinning. The essence of a drop spindle is a stick (about a foot
long) with a notch at the top and a weight at the bottom. Commonly the
weight will be a wooden disk or a large ceramic "bead". The stick should
protrude slightly below the weight and the weight _must_ be fastened
firmly to the stick. (There are a number of other authentic historical
designs for drop spindles -- sometimes specialized for particular fibers
-- but this is the one I'm most familiar with.) Fasten your starter yarn
onto the spindle just above the weight, loop it down around the bottom of
the spindle then up to a half-hitch around the notch. Note the spin
direction of your starter yarn. Hold the loose end of the yarn in one
hand and the top of the spindle in the other. Twist the spindle between
your fingers in the appropriate direction to spin the yarn tighter, and
let go so it hangs spinning from the yarn. Begin adding fresh fiber to
the free end of the yarn (this is the tricky part and the one best
demonstrated in person). Respin the spindle when it stops. When the yarn
gets too long to manage, undo the half-hitch and loop, wind some of the
yard around the spindle, and set up to go again.
Several times I've taught spinning classes where the first thing I had
people do was make their own spindles. It's really _that_ easy!
Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
From: salley at niktow.canisius.edu (David Salley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Spinning/Lace Making
Date: 27 Nov 94 12:45:26 GMT
Organization: Canisius College, Buffalo NY. 14208
Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn (Heather Rose Jones) writes:
> : Also, I'm tempted to dabble in spinning; how hard is it to find a spinning
> : wheel? Are spinning wheels terribly expensive?
> : Pattie Rayl
> Yes, they do tend to be expensive. (Mine cost close to $300 a decade and
> a half ago.) But fortunately, you don't need a wheel to start learning to
> spin.
As the A&S officer for my barony and someone who knows his way around
libraries, I often helped my fellow barony members who were intimidated by
them. One gentlewoman was looking for documentation on spinning and
weaving. Among the books I found for her was a pamphlet on how to make a
usable spinning wheel out of an old bicycle. Total cost was about $75 not
including the bike. I wondered why you wouldn't just buy a wheel, but if
they're $300+, that may explain it. ;-)
- Dagonell
SCA Persona : Lord Dagonell Collingwood of Emerald Lake, CSC, CK, CTr
Habitat : East Kingdom, AEthelmearc Principality, Rhydderich Hael Barony
Internet : salley at niktow.cs.canisius.edu
USnail-net : David P. Salley, 136 Shepard Street, Buffalo, New York 14212-2029
Movie Double Feature : "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and
"Roman Holiday" (Contributed by Ianthe d'Averoigne)
From: gwennis at infinet.com (Gwennis Mooncat)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Turkish/Palestinian/Double Arm Spindles
Date: 22 Nov 1994 23:29:06 GMT
David J. Corliss (corliss at hal.physics.wayne.EDU) wrote:
: Hold the whole thing together by wrapping a length of yarn around it.
: Wrap the yarn you spin about it in the same fashion. When you are done,
: just pull out the rod and the other pieces will come out as well, leaving
: a neat ball ready for weaving.
actually, it makes a neat ball that is ready to ply or wind on a
niddy-noddy. then you set the twist, then it is ready to use. just a minor
correction! 8)
gwennis, who still does better on a wheel...
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mistress gwynydd ni gelligaer, ol, called gwennis natural dyes maven
tarkhanum, khanate basking lizard, great darke horde i have 2 cats 8)
shire of tirnewydd, barony middle marches, midrealm columbus, ohio
member #34497 society for creative anachronism usenet: rec.org.sca
email: gwennis at infinet.com wizard at sanctuary: telnet 198.30.154.3 7200
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: Andrew Lowry <alowry at wchat.on.ca>
Subject: Iceland Knitting / Nalebinding
Organization: WorldChat / The Online Source, Burlington Ontario.
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 23:41:29 GMT
Good gentles of the SCA. My lady who is interested in 10 th Century
Norse culture and anything to do with wool and knitting has found a
company (person) that may be of interest to others so inclined.The lady
in question is:
Louise Heite
Importer of Icelandic Wool
Post Office Box 53
Camden, Delware 19934
Compuserve 76254,231
1-800-777-9665 Fax (302) 697-7758
Various items of interest to early period knitters, weavers and spinners
are for sale including the bane of all SCAers - books! My lady is
particularly excited about the opportunity to buy Nalebinding needles
and a book, Foroysk Bindingarmynstur. They also carry reindeer antler
buttons.
So if you are interested drop them a line and you can get your flyer.
Regards
Richard Larmer
From: dickeney at access1.digex.net (Dick Eney)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: spinning/weaving:animals used?
Date: 14 Sep 1995 11:49:28 -0400
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Tamar (sharing account dickeney at access.digex.net) says: dog hair probably
was used. Archaeological accounts (_Prehistoric Textiles_, and a book
about Scandinavian Textiles) indicate that cow hair and horse hair was
used, besides the more usual (to us) sheep and goat hair. However, the
coarser hairs I recall were used to make socks (often with needle-looping