that had nothing to do with bicycles or gyms. (Geez.)
I taught a drop spindle class at Unwind last Saturday to 6-7? enthusiastic students. They all did very well, and Sara and I even got a bit of fanmail feedback afterwards. I’d like to teach some more, but the next one is scheduled on the same day as Festival on the Green, so Sara will take the next one on her own. I’m going to create a handout for her about the historical aspects, and it occurred to me that such an item would be Very Useful for me to use in demos as well.
It needs to have (and I’ll collect pictures where applicable) – Due before Mar 31:
- Earliest evidence of spun fiber.
- Switch in Europe from bottom-whorl to top-whorl (Ann, I don’t remember where I got this notion – am I smokin’ crack here?) – pictures of clothing at this point
- Adaptation to the hand-cranked spindle wheel – pictures of clothing at this point
- Adaptation to the treadled flyer wheel – pictures of clothing at this point
- Mechanization of spinning in England, then US – pictures of clothing at this point
- Composition of fiber in clothing in colonial US
I have Amazon money to spend, and I want to spend it on both a history of spinning, to help this and other demo prep projects out, and on a fencing book. More about that later.
Spin Span Spun is available on ebay for under $10.
If it’s history you’re after, go for “Women’s Work, the First 20,000 Years” by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. Very readable, but good solid information. If you’re not afraid of detailed science, then read her “Prehistoric Textiles.” She wrote that one first–then did the other as a readable “lite” version.
Earlist evidence? The Lespugue Venus (small figure, @20,000 B.C.) wears a skirt of twisted strings. First actual fabric fragment is the Rmiz textile from the Czech republic (3500 B.C.)Impressions of woven textiles has been found on clay fragments in Iraq, @ 7000 B.C.
Spinning’s been around for awhile 🙂
oops! Forgot to comment on the spindles. As far as I know, Europe did bottom-whole spindles (also South America) while the middle east did top whorl.
Question–my LYS doesn’t teach spinning, even on a drop spindle. I could go an hour out of town and learn, I guess, but I’d just as soon teach myself. I taught myself to knit, so surely I can manage. How did you learn? And, what recommendations do you have for a beginner?