How to Hand Spin Wool. Did you know that you can make your own garments with your own hand spun yarn? You can because I do it all the time. Today you are finding me in the “Tiny House” which is my favorite place to spin yarn. It is a miniscule building on my property and I snapped it up as the place for me to do what I love…spin. The yarn that I spin comes straight from the animals that I have raised on my farm. Today, I’m working with Angora (rabbit) and Pygora (goat) fibers as well as Merino wool. I won’t say that what I am about to teach you is easy, but I will say that it’s totally worthwhile. I am spinning on a single treadle Ashford Traditional Spinning Wheel which you can buy for as little as $400 to $450 dollars.
What you see me doing is working clockwise with my spinning wheel, drafting the yarn as thinly as possible on two bobbins Then, I work counter-clockwise to ply the two fibers together. This is just a teaser for you to see me doing something that is pretty cool. Hand spinning. Characteristics of spun yarn vary according to the material used, fiber length and alignment, quantity of fiber used, and degree of twist. History[edit] Hand spinning[edit] Medieval spinning jug which contained water or grease to use during the spinning process and 3 Medieval spindle whorls. A man from Ramallah spinning wool. Hand-tinted photograph from 1919, restored. Modern top-whorl drop spindles The origins of spinning fiber to make string or yarn are lost in time, but archaeological evidence in the form of representation of string skirts has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic era, some 20,000 years ago.[1] In the most primitive type of spinning, tufts of animal hair or plant fiber are rolled down the thigh with the hand, and additional tufts are added as needed until the desired length of spun fiber is achieved.
The distaff was used for holding the bunch of wool, flax, or other fibers. Industrial spinning[edit] Characteristics of spun yarns[edit] Materials[edit] Twist and ply[edit] The Joy of Handspinning: Spinning Wool, Angora, and/ or Alpaca into Yarn on a Drop Spindle or Spinning Wheel. Home : Berks Spinners, Weavers & Dyers. Handspinner :: Information, news and supplies for hand spinning. Come in and look around.