{"id":1260,"date":"2018-04-09T16:42:47","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T14:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2018-04-09T16:42:47","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T14:42:47","slug":"portuguese-spindle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/portuguese-spindle\/","title":{"rendered":"Portuguese spindle"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a new spindle! I am smitten with distaff spinning bug, as you may have noticed on my recent posts on medieval style spinning<\/a> and distaff carving<\/a>. The spindle I bought is a Portuguese spindle.\u00a0I ordered it from Saber Fazer<\/a> in Portugal and it arrived just a couple of days ago.<\/p>\n

Pretty package<\/h1>\n

There is something about the experience of opening something and revealing its content. It becomes so obvious if the sender has put their heart and soul in the package. When I opened the postal bag, I found two smaller paper bags, stamped with the brand and a sheep. Both bags were taped with fancy tape.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Pretty paper bags<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inside were, except for the spindle and wool, a thank you card and a postcard with botanical style flax anatomy on it. So simple, yet so heartwarming and effective. Organic too, there was no plastic at all, except for the bubble wrap on the inside of the postal bag.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up
Details, details<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spindle<\/h1>\n

The Portuguese spindle is quite simple in its appearance, just a pear shaped spindle with a spiraled notch.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Beautifully wrapped spinning tools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spiral starts in the center of the tip of the shaft so that the yarn stays securely in place. The spindle is made from unfinished maple. The spindle weighs 32 g and is about 30 cm.<\/p>\n

I haven’t found much information about the Portuguese spindle. There are some images and a bit of info on the spindle index at the university of Innsbruck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up
The groovy groove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fiber I got together with the spindle is from a local Portuguese sheep breed called Campani\u00e7a. I haven’t found any information about them. The wool is quite bouncy and has a nice resist. It is machine carded and without lanolin. I also got a smaller piece of brown combed fiber, which I think may be Portuguese merino.<\/p>\n

Dressing the distaff<\/h1>\n

I dressed one of my hand distaffs with the Campani\u00e7a wool. I just rolled it around the distaff so that the direction of the fibers were perpendicular to the drafting. That way I would get a lofty yarn in a woolen-ish sort of drafting technique. I did try to spin the combed brown fiber with the fibers parallel to the drafting, but it was quite difficult and I got lots of lumps.<\/p>\n

The spinning<\/h1>\n

I haven’t found much information on either the Portuguese spindle or the technique, just a few short video clips. The clips show spinning with and without a distaff. I chose to use a distaff because I think it organizes the fiber better. In retrospect, maybe I should have used a belt distaff, since it would make it easier to draft than from the hand distaff.<\/p>\n

At first I was quite frustrated, since there wasn’t much action in the spinning. But when I got a bit of yarn onto the spindle, it spun easier. I spun in-hand to draft out the fiber and with short suspension to add twist. I haven’t seen any short suspension in the videos of Portuguese spindle spinning, though. In one description of the technique it said that the spindle never leaves the spinner’s hand, so maybe I spin in an unorthodox way when I spin with a short suspension.<\/p>\n

Spring is here!<\/h1>\n

As I wrote earlier, I’m eagerly awaiting spring so that I can spin outdoors again and make videos. Well, spring is here and so is my first spinning video!<\/p>\n