{"id":113,"date":"2017-05-08T17:41:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T15:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=113"},"modified":"2022-10-28T17:04:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T15:04:54","slug":"the-navajo-spindle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/the-navajo-spindle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Navajo spindle"},"content":{"rendered":"

In september I bought an Interweave video<\/a> showing different kinds of supported spindles. Among these was a Navajo spindle. I hadn’t paid Navajo spindles\u00a0much attention before, but after seeing the video I suddenly felt I needed one. And in late november I finally received\u00a0a beautiful Navajo spindle\u00a0from Roosterick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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My sweet Navajo spindle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The beauty of the Navajo spindle<\/h2>\n

Spinning on a Navajo spindle is really lovely. The long draw can get amazingly long and is very satisfying. As any other spinning, it’s very soothing. The sound of the point spinning against the bowl, the rhythmic motion of the hands and the feeling of warm wool. Also, it is a spindle\u00a0technique that involves the whole body. I do like the small movements when flicking a supported spindle, but it is a nice contrast with the long rolling movements\u00a0and the extension of the other arm away from the body. I decided to learn with the right hand as my spinning hand, the opposite of my preferences regarding other spindles and the wheel. That way I will hopefully avoid muscular strain and give my brain an extra challenge.<\/p>\n

How to spin on a Navajo spindle<\/h2>\n

When spinning on an Navajo spindle you use a long draw. The spinning hand rolls the shaft and the fiber hand controls the fiber, but none of the hands is on the thread (unless for\u00a0evening out a bump). I roll the shaft several times without moving\u00a0the fiber hand. When I see that the fiber (still fluffy and unspun) is beginning to catch the twist, I move\u00a0the fiber hand outwards, letting the fiber catch the twist as my hand moves further out from the body. That gives me a semi-thread (or\u00a0proto-yarn using\u00a0Fleegle’s<\/a> terms in her book about supported spinning) of even thickness. From this stage I can decide what thickness I want. If I want a thick thread I put in some more twist (double drafting) without moving my fiber hand. If I want a thinner thread I move my fiber hand outwards\u00a0and roll some more. When my arm doesn’t get any longer, I butterfly the thread onto my fiber hand and double draft it in sections. I’ll try to make a video that shows this part more clearly, however, you can see it a bit in the video, starting at 38 seconds.<\/em><\/p>\n