I took a Class in Medieval spinning with a distaff last Thursday. I originally signed up for the class before the COVID-19 lockdown. So I have been waiting a while to do this class. This was a 2-hour evening class. We were learning 2 things at once. How to spin in hand and how to use a distaff. Our teacher Judy said it’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.
First, we got some distaffs to dress. This means we had to tie the fiberbatts to a stick. Judy had a couple of nice wooden ones, but mostly we had forked branches she had taken the bark off.
Judy brought several spindles with different whorls. The whorl is the disk that adds weight, so the spindle spins better. The whorls are removable. Once you have some yarn built up on your spindle, you can remove the whorl.
First, we practised twirling the spindle with the leader. You have to make a half hitch on the end of the spindle and then twirl it.
Judy showing us how to twirl our spindle
Lucie is seeing if it is easier standing up.
Then we practised the drafting and the twirling at the same time. milking cow motion on the right and twirling on the right. This is the patting your head and rubbing your tummy part. The only thing we had to bring to class was a belt to stick the distaff in. I do not own a belt, so I got some bailer twine and braided myself a belt for the night. You can see this great fashion piece below.
Then we started spinning. It’s hard to know where to look, at the hand that’s trying to twirl correctly or at the hand trying to draft the fibre down from the distaff.
Here I am winding on. The idea is to make a football (rugby ball) shaped cob on the spindle.
Here’s a close-up of twirling and short suspension. You can let it drop a bit on the last twerl before winding on. Usually, you need to keep it in-hand so you can twirl it again.
Here is what I managed to make by the end of the class. It’s lumpy and thick and thin just like the yarn I made when I first started spinning. I was just starting to wind off when I remembered to take a picture. I haven’t decided if I will ply it or not. First, I have to find my spindles. I’ve seen them recently in their little case. Of course, I couldn’t find them before the class. I will find them again when I am looking for something else. I hope I will be smart enough to grab them and not think I will remember where they are.
