From spindle to skein: how to spin with a drop spindle

Spinning is one of the oldest hand crafts and skills known to man. Through spinning of wool, silk, flax, and other natural fibers, mankind moved from wearing animal skins and furs to the textiles we know today.

Though all natural, wool, silk, and flax are very different materials. Silk comes from moth cocoons through a special process the Chinese mastered millennia ago. Flax is a fibrous plant. Wool is fur shed through beneficial sheering (your dog groomer is doing this to help your dog s...