Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
A spindle, sometimes called a drop spindle, is a wooden spike weighted at one end with a wheel called a whorl and fitted with an optional hook at the other end, used for spinning wool and other fibers into thread. The shaft is typically 15 to 45 centimeters long. In a high-whorl spindle the whorl sits close to the top and newly spun yarn is wound around the shaft underneath it, while in a low-whorl spindle the whorl sits near the bottom. Supported forms include the large Navajo spindle and the tiny tahkli used for cotton.
A spindle (sometimes called a drop spindle) is a wooden spike weighted at one end with a wheel and an optional hook at the other end. It is used for spinning wool and other fibers into thread. Spindles or parts of them have been found in very, very old archaelogical sites; they may represent one of the earliest pieces of technology available to humankind.
Modern spindles are typically available in high-whorl or low-whorl types. In a high-whorl spindle, the whorl sits very close to the top of the shaft, which is anywhere from 15-45cm long. A hook is placed on the top of the shaft to secure the developing yarn, and the newly-spun yarn is wound around the shaft underneath the whorl. In a low-whorl spindle, the whorl sits near the bottom of the shaft. The newly spun yarn is wound around the shaft just above the whorl, and then passed over the whorl, hitched around the tip of the shaft, brought back up to the top of the shaft, and hitched there again to stabilize it for further spinning.
Other forms of spindles include supported spindles, such as the large Navajo spindle and the tiny cotton-spinning tahkli. The spinning wheel is also used for the same purpose.
Referred to in the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty; the princess (leading lady) pricks her finger on such a spindle and falls asleep before a handsome prince finds and kisses her. A spindle was such a universal object (as a pair of scissors would be now), that the king's ban upon all spindles in the kingdom was immediately recognized as a useless precaution.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/spindle). Modified by Apparel Search 10/31/04. |
Hold a spindle in your hand and you are holding almost the whole technology in one view. The tool is a wooden spike: a straight shaft, a wheel called a whorl fixed at one end to give it weight and momentum, and, on many examples, a small hook at the other end to guide and secure the developing yarn. That is all. There is no frame, no treadle and no separate bobbin. The whorl is the engine. Flicked or rolled into rotation, its weight keeps the shaft turning steadily while gravity pulls the suspended spindle downward, and that turning and pulling together draw out loose fiber and twist it into thread. Because the spindle hangs from the yarn it is making, spinners also call it a drop spindle. Each length of new yarn is then wound onto the shaft for storage, the hook or hitch is reset, and spinning resumes. The simplicity is the point: a competent spinner can walk, stand or sit while working, carrying fiber in one hand and the spindle in the other.
Spindles or parts of them have been found in very old archaeological sites, and they may represent one of the earliest pieces of technology available to humankind. That antiquity makes sense. Before woven cloth can exist, yarn must exist, and before any wheel or frame can mechanize yarn-making, someone must first discover that a weighted stick, kept spinning, will twist short fibers into a continuous, strong strand. The spindle turned that discovery into a portable, repairable tool made from common materials, and it remained so universal for so long that its cultural footprint is still visible: in the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, the princess pricks her finger on a spindle, and the king's ban on all spindles in the kingdom was understood at once as a useless precaution because such an everyday object could never truly be eliminated.
Modern spindles are typically available in high-whorl and low-whorl types, and the difference is the position of the whorl along a shaft anywhere from 15 to 45 centimeters long. In a high-whorl spindle, the whorl sits very close to the top of the shaft. A hook is placed on the top to secure the developing yarn, and the newly spun yarn is wound around the shaft underneath the whorl, building a cone or cop below the weight. In a low-whorl spindle, the whorl sits near the bottom of the shaft. The newly spun yarn is wound around the shaft just above the whorl, then passed over the whorl, hitched around the tip of the shaft, brought back up to the top, and hitched there again to stabilize it for further spinning. The double hitch sounds fussy, but it keeps the yarn supply from slipping while the spindle drops and turns.
Not every spindle hangs. Supported spindles rest their tip in a bowl or on a surface while they turn, which suits very fine or short fibers that would snap under a hanging spindle's weight. The large Navajo spindle and the tiny cotton-spinning tahkli sit at opposite ends of that family: one long and substantial, the other small and light enough for delicate cotton. Together, the drop and supported forms show how one basic idea - a shaft plus a whorl - can be tuned by size, weight and whorl position to suit wool, cotton and other fibers, long before any wheel took over the turning.
A spindle is a wooden spike weighted at one end with a wheel called a whorl and fitted with an optional hook at the other end. It is used for spinning wool and other fibers into thread and is sometimes called a drop spindle.
In a high-whorl spindle the whorl sits very close to the top of the shaft and the newly spun yarn is wound around the shaft underneath the whorl. In a low-whorl spindle the whorl sits near the bottom of the shaft and the yarn is wound just above it.
Supported spindles are forms that rest rather than hang while spinning. Examples include the large Navajo spindle and the tiny tahkli used for spinning cotton.