Contemplating wool

(Nimue)

The drop spindle is a bit of technology whose use goes way back into prehistory. Spinning wool was the start of how countless people through history have made clothes, and having warm clothes is essential for life in the northern parts of Europe.

As part of my time on Hadrian’s Wall, I spent a lot of time spinning. When I started I knew some theory and had tried a few things briefly many years ago. It took a while to get the hang of it, and to figure out the timing and the flow for feeding wool fibres to the turning thread. I’ve enjoyed it. The process has taught me about the value of clothing when you have to make the material in this way.  A dress represents many hours of work.

As a joky aside, I find myself wondering if Celts fought naked to avoid damaging their precious trousers!

One visitor reflected on how grim she thought life must have been for the woman who had to spend all of their time spinning. I found myself comparing that to the lives of the people who worked in fabric making factories, and the lives of ordinary people now. The person who spins can also look after their children (and sheep!) talk, sing, tell stories and if they have any coordination, they can wander about. I cannot wander about. As a way of life, hand spinning is clearly far less horrible than factory work – which routinely killed and injured people pre 20th century.

It’s interesting to ask what progress means and looks like. We free ourselves from spinning into the convenience of having massive amounts of poor quality clothing, the production of which is compromising life on the planet. There have to be better ways.