The spindle whorl firing is done - so now I have plenty of hand-formed spindle whorls again. This time around, there are some decorated ones, and quite a few of these are formed after actual examples from prehistoric finds. Though, of course, I cannot guarantee that their shapes and weights are close to the originals - especially their weight will probably be quite different even if the size and shape matches, as different materials and different amounts of water and temper make a huge difference in the density - and thus the weight at similar size.

This is one of the many reasons why making whorls and pit-firing them never gets un-exciting. It may be boring (forming whorl after whorl after whorl can be really mind-numbing), but there is always a good amount of insecurity left. Especially regarding firing.

Will they all get enough heat? How many of them will be completely black, or completely light? And most importantly:
How many of them will come out undamaged?

As the pit-firing procedure is only sort of controlled, some whorls in the batch usually come out more or less of damaged. The most common cause is probably a small air bubble that has gotten trapped inside, followed by adverse conditions when heating up, such as getting too much heat too quickly, or too much heat only on part of the piece. Or the clay being still a little bit too moist - even though I try to make sure that the whorls have enough time to really dry out.

Obviously, all these things are more probable on the really large whorls - and this batch, one of the big ones did die a spectacular death, giving out two very loud bangs right after I started the firing. It was accompanied in its venture to explode by two smaller ones... so a total loss of three whorls for the firing batch.

While this is, obviously, a total loss, there are always some whorls that only lose a little chip off their surface. They are otherwise still okay, and they can work just like undamaged ones - but of course they are not making their way into my for-sale stash of whorls.

I call these whorls "Salamander Snacks" because, as every reader of medieval bestiaries knows, the salamander can live in the fire unharmed. So obviously, the reason for how these whorls look is that a salamander living in the fire got a little peckish and took a nibble (or in some cases, a bite) out of a whorl.

While last time around, I had quite a few salamander snacks in the batch, this time it was only a single one - but the salamander has been quite hungry, it seems, as it took a large-ish bite:

I hope it enjoyed its snack!

I'm off to the Nadelwelt - in case you are going there, you can find me and Margit at booth F2.3, just like in the last years.

I haven't managed to fire the next batch of spindle whorls before the fair, so they will have another few days to hang out. Possibly that is a good thing, too, because then they will definitely be completely dried out, and that results in less losses due to cracking.

Here they are, all hanging out on the table:

It's a clay that fires up to a light grey colour. Actually it's two clays that fire up to a light colour, as I have used up the last of my previous batch. Some of the whorls are already made from the new clay, which is looking a little bit lighter in the unfired-but-dry stage, so I'm very curious to see how it will look when fired. The bits that are not in a reducing atmosphere, that is...

This time around, I have also played a little with some decorations on some of the whorls. Most of the decorated ones are closely modelled after extant finds from prehistoric times, and a few are modeled after finds from the Celtic era. I did try to match both the form and the size as closely as possible, and found once more that there are forms I find very easy and natural to do, and others that I have not figured out the perfect method yet. So there's more to learn... which will have to wait for the next batch, though.

For now, I'm looking forward to the firing, it's always a fun thing to do, and it's always exciting to see how they all turn out!

More apples. Well, to be precise: One apple.

Remember the post about choosing whorl weights a few days ago? You can now also find that post on my main page, both in English and in German, as part of the spinning info material. And because things are always nicer when there are a few pictures to go with them, I asked one of the best neighbours of all time if she would take some photos... of me spinning.

With an apple on the spindle stick.



One apple to make the spindle weigh 50 grams. It spun nicely, even though it was a tiny bit lopsided, and actually a little heavier than I would have felt was necessary, but it was still no problem to spin my usual thickness with it.

Also... fun was had while doing it. Much fun. And if the spindle is too heavy, you could always make it lighter by carefully nibbling your way around the whorl!

"What whorl weight should I choose?" is one of the questions I get very frequently - and as with so many questions, there is no single clear answer.

In my experience, whorl weight and spindle weight are a very personal thing. I've made good experiences with whorl weights of about 25-35 g for beginning spinners, and that is also what I pack into my starter kits. There are, however, always a few people who feel better spinning with a lighter or a heavier whorl.

According to my experience over the years, and also to the results of the Spinning Experiment back in 2009, the only thing that the weight of the whorl will definitely mean for spinning is what I call a "running quality control". If your spindle weighs 40 g, you can be sure that the thread will, at any point, be able to sustain a 40 g load or tension (provided you spin suspended). For somebody who spins for a weaver, as most spinners, historically, will have done, this is a crucial thing. If the thread breaks while spinning, it's not something you rejoice over, but it's also no big deal. You pick up the spindle, fluff up the end of your thread, re-connect it to the fibre supply, and on you go. A thread breaking on the loom is an entirely different story and much less fun, plus much more work to fix, so the last thing a weaver wants are unreliable, breakage-prone threads. Hence a running quality control would be a very good thing. That does not mean a yarn spun on a lighter spindle may not be able to hold the required weight, but you don't have this running quality control built into the process.

The rest of the spindle weight is, within a rather large range, doing nothing to influence spinning in regard to thread thickness. This mostly happens in the head of the spinners, who have, in many cases, heard "light spindles for thin thread" so often it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. A lot of beginning spinners are also afraid the spindle will drop if the thread is thin. My advice is that you should pick a spindle weight (and a whorl shape) for something that feels good to you and that twirls nicely in your fingers. Here, biomechanics come into play. If the spindle is too heavy, or too light, it will not be as easy to flick into a quick rotation as one that is in your personal good weight range. It's a little like throwing a ball - if you want to hurl it a long distance, and the ball is very light, it will be awkward and hard to throw. If the ball is too heavy, it's also hard to throw for a long way; but inbetween, there is a range of weights that you will be able to throw far (and not hurting your shoulder in the process).

Personally, I tend to use heavy spindles, even for the relatively thin threads that I usually spin. As my spindle stick fills with yarn, there comes a point when I feel the spindle doesn't turn as nicely as at the beginning, and at this point I will exchange the whorl for a lighter, smaller one. For me, that results in maximum efficiency when spinning (and also in maximum pleasure).

So depending on what kind of yarn people want to spin, their biomechanics, what they are used to, their spinning style, preferred fibres and probably some other squishy factors, there is no firm rule or guideline to tell which spindle weight and whorl shape they will find best. The good thing about medieval spindles, though: You can stick on about anything that has a hole in it. So if you are unsure, get a spindle stick and try out random stuff as whorls - wooden toy wheels, glass beads large or small, stone beads, stone donuts, clay whorls, clay beads, things in different densities and shapes. Stick on a small apple if you feel like it. Or a potato (not for historically correct medieval spinning, though!). Then once you have an idea of what works for you, you can get exactly the whorl you want.

Or whorls. Spindle sticks and their knobbly companions, after all, are herd animals...

I have bags! Paper bags!

They are white. They are cheap. They are flimsy. They are not very large... and they come in large quantities only.



Those large quantities are subdivided into packs of 100 each, neatly threaded onto a bit of string...

and they are just the right size for wool samples.



Which is exactly what they are going to hold.

Because, you see, I have all those wonderful rare sheep breed fibres, and I have them in packages of 100 grams, which is a nice amount if you want to spin a little or felt a small item, and it's also a good base amount to order multiples of, if you have a slightly larger project. But maybe you don't want to have a full hundred grams but still are curious about the fibres, or you would like to have just a handful of locks for some small projects, or you are not sure which one to take and would like to try a little bit of them all first, or you would love to have a sample of different ones to see (or show others) how very different the wool from various breeds can be.



And now I have the solution for that - sample packs of the fibres I have in the shop, a handful of each, which is enough to get you a taste (or rather a feel) of how the fibre will work and behave.

The actual sample set will have one more bag, but the Walliser Landschaf fleece (another dark one) is not dry yet, so no stuffing in bags of samples of that one at the moment. If the weather holds, though, next week should see these sample packs in the shop - and I plan to do a second set of sample packs with carded fibres, too.

So yay for these white paper bags!

One of the recurring questions about my spindle sticks, especially from modern spinners, is "Why don't they have a hook?" followed by "why don't they have a notch?" and "how do you fix the yarn without hook or notch?"

Finds of medieval spindle sticks are not too common (wood has that tendency to rot, and can be burned, and a spindle stick is not very spectacular so you'd want to carefully preserve it somewhere like you would a wooden altar, for instance) and they are published here and there, so putting together a good collection takes some rootling around. Even with surviving sticks, they are not always complete (the tips are often broken off), and then they may not be published in detail, with a drawing of the tips.

However... it does seem that the plain, un-notched and un-hooked spindle was very, very common, and I personally usually spin with the plain tips and am very comfortable with them.

There are instances of notched spindles in the medieval finds, though, and since I've been asked time and again about notches, I have finally looked through my sources, sharpened my little knife, practised some more... and am now offering optional notch cuts with my spindle sticks.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="900"] Notches! From left to right: plain un-notched tip, horizontal notch, diagonal notch for z-spun yarn, diagonal notch for s-spun yarn.


They are available both in horizontal, where they will very securely keep a half-hitch for either spinning direction, and in diagonal, where they will either keep a half-hitch, or, if the thread is thin enough and you wind it around the spindle in the right way, hold the thread all by themselves. I've tested the diagonal notches, and they usually need a bit of getting used to, but then they work fine. They accommodate a thin thread, and the notch sort of latches onto the thread to hold it securely enough for spinning. It's not as secure as the hitch, though, so the probability of the spindle slipping out and falling down is a bit higher throughout.

When it works, though... it's really, really fun!

If you've ever done a spinning demonstration, you will probably have heard the Sleeping Beauty question at least once. If I had a Euro for every time that I've heard it... well, I'd be a good bit richer than I am.

Especially for people who only know a (flyer) spinning wheel as handspinning tool, the question about where you could prick your finger is a vexing one. Then, when people see a hand-spindle, they sort of jump on the possibility that this could be The Thing! My usual reaction is to offer them a glass of beer and a band-aid if they manage to draw blood using my spindle. Up until now, nobody has taken me up on it...

A while ago, the question also came up on a German facebook group page that I'm in. I'm not on FB much, mind you - but occasionally I check stuff, and even more occasionally, something makes me feel the urge to write an answer. In that case, I did a short bit on the topic and put it on my website, and now I've finally translated it into English. So if you feel like reading a bit more about it, you can go here and check out The Sleeping Beauty Question. And of course, please feel free to link to this if the question pops up in your bit of the internet, and you think it would be helpful!