Spinning Wheel Got to Go Round

Think about the clothing you're wearing right now. Pants, a shirt, underwear, socks and maybe a sweater. Look at just a square inch of any of your garments and note the texture of it. Can you see the threads that are all woven together to create that fabric? Or, does it look more like it was knit? Either way, chances are your clothing is made up of yards and yards of individual threads or yarn. That thread or yarn started out as a fiber that was then twisted and pulled to create continuous thread. If your sweater is antique and made of wool, its yarn may very well have been "spun" on a spinning wheel. According to a YouTube video on the Humble Bee channel, the spinning wheel was invented in either India or China sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D. Relative to its time period, it revolutionized textile production, replacing the much slower hand-held drop spindle with this much faster wheel and pulley system. Turning the spindle on its side and connecting it via a band to a drive wheel, the original versions were hand-cranked. Medieval Europe grabbed the technology in the 13th century but originally couldn't produce strong enough yarn for weaving. The Flyer Wheel was developed in 16th century Europe which allowed for simultaneous twisting and winding of the fiber. Finally, in the 18th century, the foot-powered treadle wheel allowed two-handed spinning which increased productivity even more. A reader recently reached out to me, wondering if I knew an antiques dealer or collector who might be interested in her antique spinning wheel. My own experience with them is that they are usually quite large and take up a lot of floor space in a shop yet don't tend to sell quickly. My guess is there's still a lot of them on the market and, being largely ornamental antiques with no secondary modern purpose, they sit in shops longer than an antique table or chest of drawers would. I looked up the value of spinning wheels online. According to Spin Off magazine, a trade publication for active spinners, a Canadian Production Wheel in working order from the late 18th century is highly desirable to people who still practice spinning and can be worth $300 to $350. As ornamental antiques, if the piece is broken or missing parts like the bobbin/flyer, the price range is typically between $50 to $100. Geographic areas also affect value. If a community has a large population of fiber artists, values for antique wheels will be higher. Provenance is also important. Mass produced models are worth much less than those with certain manufacturer names. Like in all antiques, rarity ups the value. Virtually all fabrics are made in one of three ways: weaving, knitting or fusing. Weaving is done on a warp with threads intersecting at right angles. This type of fabric has the least give to it. Examples would be dress shirts, sheets, jeans and draperies. Knit fabrics are made with inter-looping yarn; T-shirts, sweaters and jersey are examples. Non-woven fabrics are made up of fibers fused together without any weaving such as felt, surgical masks, interfacing and faux leather. I watched a YouTube video of a woman spinning wool into yarn and it was really quite fascinating. In one hand she'd hold a clump of raw wool and pull and twist what looked like a fuzzy wick sort of long string that she then fed onto the spinning wheel that then twisted it into a much thinner string of yarn and wound it around a large bobbin. She was also constantly picking out little bits of debris and imperfections in the thick string she created just before it began its journey on the wheel. I'd guess much practice and patience is required to master the art of spinning. It does look like there's something soothing, almost meditative about it, though.