The basic techniques of hand spinning have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. All you need is a spindle and some fleece, both of which are available from craft shops. Fleece is sold un-scoured (in its natural state) or washed and carded. If the wool is unscoured, you must tease and card it before spinning. For this, you need two cards – wooden bats set with short wires – also available from craft shops.
Teasing
Take a small handful of fleece and gently pull it apart with your fingers. Work through the whole fleece in this way until it is fluffy with no coarse lumps. Pull out any grass or seeds.
Carding
Take one card in your left hand and lay a thin layer of fleece evenly across it, catching the fleece in the wires. Rest the card on your left knee. Draw the other card lightly across it with an upward motion at the end of the stroke. Repeat the brushing motion until all the wool is transferred to t he second card.
Now repeat the process to transfer the wool back to the first card. Transfer the wool from one card to the other until all the fibers are spread evenly over one card.
Hold the cards at right angles and draw the empty one up across the other to make a light, fluffy roll of wool (known as a roving or rolag). Gently roll the roving between your hands until even. Make about 24 rovings.
Spinning
Take a piece if finished wool yarn and tie it to the spindle above the whorl. Wind it around the spindle shaft below the whorl, then bring it up and loop it around the notch at the top of the shaft.
Cut the yarn 250mm (10inches) from the notch, then fray the end. Hold the frayed end and an end of roving together between the fingers and thumb of your left hand. Let the spindle dangle, then twirl it with your right hand so that the fibers and yard are twisted evenly together as far as your left hand.
With your right hand, gently draw out some more fibers from the roving, then twirl the spindle again so that the fibers are evenly twisted. Repeat the rhythmic process of drawing out more fibers and spinning until the spun wool is so long that the spindle is near the floor.
Unfasten the spun yarn from the notch and beneath the whorl. Wind the yarn in a cone shape around the spindle shaft. Loop the yarn around the notch once more and resume spinning. Once spun in this way, the yarn becomes what is known as a single.
Plying yarn
To make yarn suitable for weaving, ply together two singles. Place two cones of single in a bowl on the floor – to keep them contained and to allow them to unwind easily.
Attach them both to the spindle and twist together as for spinning – but twirl the spindle in the direction opposite to that used for making the singles.
As the yarn is plied wind it into a skein around pegs set 460mm (18 inches) apart – or around a chair back. Tie the ends together, then tie several figure of eight knots through the skein to keep it from tangling.
Washing
Soak the skein in mildly soapy, tepid water. Squeeze gently. Rinse in cold water several times. Hang up to dry on a rod outdoors in the shade. Move it around the rod so that it dries completely. Wind into a ball ready for weaving.
