Spinning Fibre: Spinning Yarn

Spinning fibre is a quiet art; totally relaxing and meditative. The sound of the rhythm of the wheel is quite hypnotic. Spinning Fibre is one of the few things I can do while chatting and still be productive: I love spinning yarn in this atmosphere.

Even though the act of spinning fibre is essentially a simple one, the first steps to spinning fibre are a bit complicated. Co-ordination of feet and hands is the key. It takes practice, and the more you practice, the better you become at spinning fibre.

Spinning fibre, especially wool,"in the grease" works wonders on dry winter hands. It also assists the actual process by allowing the fibres to slip past each other easily. If working with a white or light colored fibre, however, preparing the fibre by washing is recommended. This removes the dirt and excess lanolin and avoids the problem of dirt being trapped in the twist, an important aspect of spinning yarn.

You’d think that spinning fibre is fitting for the winter months, but logically, winter is when you want to wear your garment. Spinning fibre is a pleasing task to do all year round! Summer is hot, you say. Yes, but the breeze created by an actively spinning wheel is very refreshing! The best time to spin is whenever you can, so your yarn is ready to knit before winter.

Many kinds of fibre are available all requiring different degrees of skill and expertise. And although spinning wool is fairly common, working with – say - yak down - is not. Neither is camel, angora rabbit, Samoyed, Wolf, and Husky, to name only a few. Quiviut (Arctic Musk Ox) is a very rare and specialized fibre. I spin sheep, alpaca, poodle, silk and the occasional pet fur. Always willing to try something new, my latest experiment included Carbon Fibre.

Then there are all the cellulose fibres…..Cotton, Hemp, Flax, Ramie, Tencel to name a few.
 
Hand spinning fibre, and spinning yarn is totally captivating.