Today I share a video of a lady showing others how to spin. Though I don’t speak Russian and the auto-translated captions aren’t quite up to the mark, I the close-ups of new spinners learning to twirl the spindle are still valuable.
Category Archives: Video Wednesday
Video Wednesday- Singing and Spinning
There is a tradition in (I believe Bulgaria) where spinning and singing are combined. I don’t know anything about it and would like to learn more- i you know please comment!
Video Wednesday- Spinning Wool Grasped
Today I share a video of a traditional spinning technique. This is a type of grasped spinning, also known as ‘rotation in the hand’
Video Wednesday- Processing and Spinning Flax and Wool.
Video Wednesday- Drafting on the Distaff Side
Today I share a video that shows a clear view of the drafting hand. You can see that this wool is not as finley prepaired as the comercially combed top we find widley available today for handspinners. She appears to really need to tug down on the wool, and I think she is working at keeping her drafting up with the spindle. By this I mean the drafting, not her spindle or spinning technique is the time limiting factor.
Video Wedneaday- weaving and braiding.
Today I share an old Norwegian film featuring inkle weaving, tablet weaving and whipcord braiding.
Video Wednesday- Spindle Review of Niddy Noddy’s Custom Medieval Style Spindle Stick with a Spiral Notch
This week I bring you the last of my reviews of Niddy Noddy’s Medieval Style Spindle Sticks. This one has a spiral notch.
Video Wednesday- Reviewing Niddy Noddy’s Custom Medieval Style Spindle
Sorry I’ve been very lax with editing my spindle reviews.
This is my review of the first of the custom designed spindles Niddy Noddy made for me, THis one has no notch.
These spindles were re-shaped to fit my extant whorls below the ‘belly’ of the spindle, often spindle sticks are too thin to use these whorls.
This spindle has no notch, and next week I’ll post the video with a spiral notch.
How to Use a Distaff While Sitting
A common sight in medieval manuscripts is ladies standing while spinning, like this lady spinning wool amongst the sheep.
Also common, is the lady taking a break to spin, like this lady spinning wool amongst the sheep.
Which sometimes raises the question “How do I use a distaff while sitting?”
Well, there are many answers and the right answer is what works for you.
This lady has a beautiful standing distaff.
Grabow Altarpiece, Bertram von Minden, c 1379-1383
Sometimes the lady clasps the distaff between her knees
1380, Mary spinning
I would love a standing distiff, but I don’t have one yet. People have asked how I sit with my distaff and as it’s hard to explain I decided to do a video.
This is simply how I sit with my distaff, what works for you may be different. Please feel free to share what works for you in the comments!
Video Wednesday- NiddyNoddy’s Medieval Spindle Stick a Spiral Notch.
This week I bring you the next review of my five new NiddyNoddy Spindles. This spindle handled both my fine and coarser wool very well. The deep spiral notch meant there is no need for a half hitch and it works very well for suspended or semi-suspended techniques as well as grasped spinning.
The packaging that I was spinning is Lleyn, which is a welsh meat breed. Neil from Niddy Noddy mentioned that a lot of wool of this quality is buried or burned due to the nature of the wool industry in the UK which is a shame as it is a good usable wool.
This spindle weighs 10g which is lighter than the first spindle I reviewed, and while it went ok with my lightweight 6g whorl I preferred it with my 20g whorl.
You can find Niddy Noddy on facebook: www.facebook.com/niddynoddyuk and etsy www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NiddyNoddyUK
You can read more about other tools for spinning and other brands of spindles here
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