Knowing the various types of wheel can help you enhance your skill at spinning and weaving. You can appreciate the designs and consistency of materials made by getting to know the different tools and wheels available. You will find that the mechanism might change, as well as the approach behind the system, but the results remain unchanged. Weaving and spinning is still very much the same today as it was thousands of years ago.
About the Treadle Wheel
The treadle wheel is powered using the foot of spinner, instead of a motor or the spinner's hand. The spinner sits and starts pumping the treadle by foot. The drivel wheel then turns through the crankshaft and a connecting rod. Both hands are then free for drafting the fibers, which is important in short-draw spinning.
Short-draw spinning is the most basic technique used for the treadle wheel. A lot of modern wheels use a flyer-and-bobbin type that twists the yarn and winds the yarn onto a spool continuously. The wheels can be single or double-treadle. The spinner personally chooses the type of treadle, but the function and results remain unchanged.
The Double Drive Wheel
This type of wheel is named after the drive band. It goes around the spinning wheel a couple of times. The drive band turns the flyer, described as the horse-shoe shaped wooden piece that surrounds the bobbin. Because of the whorl size difference, the bobbin whorl turns faster than the flyer whorl.
The whorl is described as the round piece or pulley wherein the drive band runs around in. The flyer and bobbin start to rotate, thereby twisting the yarn. The difference in the spend will continually wind the yarn right onto the bobbin. The difference in speed or ratio is changed by the size of the whorls, as well as the tension of the drive band. The drive band on the double drive wheel is made of non-stretch twine or yarn. Sometimes, candlewick can be used.
The Single Drive
The single-drive wheel includes the drive band going around the flyer and brake on the bobbin. A lot of the drive bands for this type of wheel is created from synthetic cord. It is elastic and will not easily slip on the wheel. As the spinner makes new yarn, the bobbin and flyer can turn in unison, but the spinner may choose to wind the yarn onto the bobbin. The flyer or the bobbin will slow down and then the yarn winds on. A part will slow down due to the brake band looping over the element. If the brake band is tight, the pull on the yarn increases, since there is more friction on the bobbin that needs to be overcome to turn together with the flyer.
The Styles
The castle wheel is described as having the flyer and spindle found just above the wheel, instead than just off to a single side. The wheel type is usually compact and very easy to store. A number of castle wheels can fold up so that these can fit as carry-on luggage in airplanes.
Hand spinning yarn is actually quite popular these days. This is why the population of crocheters and knitters has largely increased, and so has their purchase of treadling wheels and spindles.
Knitting
Knitting is now known to be one of the favorite hobbies of lots of women, children, and even men, all around the globe. This is perhaps the main reason why the number of spinners is also increasing.
Back then, spinning is only regarded as an essential part of the cottage industry which kept families properly and comfortably clothed by using the fleeces that were shorn from the sheep that they, themselves, raised. But now, spinning yarn is known to be such a perfect complement to hobbies related to crochet and knitting.
Reasons to learn how to spin yarn
Having a “love affair” with yarn is the same with knowing how to correctly and properly weave, crochet or knit. Producing just the right kind of yarn has the ability to come up with an exceptional project. Moreover, knowing how to come up with techniques that can substitute different kinds of yarns properly is an expert skill of crocheters or knitters.
Learning how to spin yarn the right way gives the person a much broader and deeper understanding of what makes a specific yarn fiber good. This means that that particular person can now have the skill of choosing the perfect yarn for a certain project.
Spinning as form of meditation
Furthermore, the act of spinning itself is regarded by many as a peaceful, very soothing, and meditative process once it is correctly learned. Also, purchasing a fiber that has already been prepared is a lot cheaper as compared to purchasing ones that have been spun using commercial techniques and machinery. This means that if people only knew how to spin their own yarn, then can afford to get themselves a fiber that is made of better quality, such as cashmere, alpaca, or silk.
Using a spindle
Before anything else, the basics of using a spindle should be learned. Getting to spin with a spindle is not merely a stepping stone for spinning with wheels. Even if people have already mastered the skill of spinning, they still use spindles.
What exactly is a spindle?
A spindle is actually comprised of a whorl, which is basically a wide disc that gives the proper momentum and weight that are both necessary for a long spin. The shaft part of the spindle extends either above or below of the whorl and it is responsible for holding the yarn when it starts to be spun. A hook is also utilized in transferring the spin from the spindle and to the yarn.
Making a spindle
People can actually make their own spindles. They can even make use of materials that are usually available in hardware stores. Some CDs even provide the necessary information for making spindles. These aforementioned items can be bought from the local yarn store or from an online supplier. An example of such place is Etsy, which is one of the top stores that provide customers with spindles and different fibers for spinning.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy