The whorl, where present, may be located near the top, bottom or center of the spindle. There are many other methods for controlling the pre-spun fibre, such as coiling it around one's lower arm, or through a bracelet, or wrapping it loosely around a yarn braid hanging from one's wrist.Īnother way spindles are categorised is by the location of the whorl. For example the Akha spindle, a short spindle with a large center-whorl disc, is supported by the hand of the spinner during drafting of cotton fibre, but during the adding of extra twist to stabilize the yarn, the spindle is dropped to rest on the yarn.Ī familiar sight from history books is a spindle used in conjunction with a distaff, an upright stick with a large quantity of loose fibre wound around it, to be easily accessed. While spindle types are divided into these three main categories, some traditional spinning styles employ multiple or blended techniques. French spindles are "twiddled" between the fingers of one hand while some types of Romanian spindles are grasped in the fist and turned through rotation of the wrist. Grasped spindles remain held in the hand using finger or wrist movements to turn the spindle. Grasped spindles are also known as hand spindles, in the hand spindles, in hand spindles and twiddled spindles there appears no consensus on nomenclature for this category of spindles though there have been various attempts at creating an agreed nomenclature including dividing this category of spindles into two, such as Crowfoot's attempts to define the difference between grasped and in hand spindles or merging this category into others, such as Franquemont's approach of classing them as supported spindles. Supported spindles come in a great variety of sizes, such as the very large, ~30" Navajo spindle, the small, extremely fast, metal takli for spinning cotton, and the tiniest Orenburg spindles (~20 cm, 15gm) for spinning gossamer lace yarns. Most supported spindles continue to rest with the tip on one's thigh, on the ground, on a table, or in a small bowl while rotating. However, there are practical limits to their size/weight. Suspended spindles also permit the spinner to move around while spinning, going about their day. Drop Spindles are a popular type of suspended spindle and get their name because the spindle is allowed to drop down while the thread is formed, allowing for a greater length of yarn to be spun before winding on. Suspended spindles are so named because they are suspended to swing from the yarn after rotation has been started. Supported and suspended spindles are normally held vertically, grasped spindles may be held vertically, horizontally or at an angle depending on the tradition.
Modern hand spindles fall into three basic categories: suspended spindles, supported spindles and grasped spindles. The wood traditionally favoured for making spindles was that of Euonymus europaeus, from which derives the traditional English name spindle bush. In industrial yarn production, spindles are used as well see spinning jenny, spinning mule and ring spinning. Whorl-weighted spindles date back at least to Neolithic times spindle whorls have been found in archaeological digs around the world.Ī spindle is also part of traditional spinning wheels where it is horizontal, such as the Indian charkha and the great or walking wheel. The origin of the first wooden spindle is lost to history because the materials did not survive.