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I have answered my own question!
The question being "How did people spin yarn before they invented spindles?"
The answer is...
...they used Sharpies.
Or a perhaps a stick if there were no nearby Sharpies.
Some of you might remember that some time back I got a session of tutoring on spinning from one of my mom's friends. I bought a spindle and some wool, spun in front of the TV once or twice, and then we discovered that Sora liked to sit in the box of wool, so to prevent him from messing it up we closed up the box and put it on a tall shelf, whereupon I immediately forgot it existed.
A few months back, Toby decided to take up knitting because he wanted something to do with his hands while watching TV and playing RPGs.* And one of my coworkers started a weeklystitch and bitch fiber arts session/meeting during lunch in the library, and Toby started showing up for that so he could take advantage of the advice of more advanced knitters. After the first session, I remembered my spinning so I've been bringing that to work on Wednesdays.
I am naturally not very good. :) Today I was trying to focus on keeping my yarn a consistent thickness, and while I wasn't that successful, I was more successful than I'd previously been.
However, I had a small puff of wool that came off the bunch I was holding in my hand at one point, and was sitting at my desk twisting it and messing with it, and started wondering about the development of spinning and how to spin without a spindle. One Google later, and I had my answer, and now have two Sharpies with (still somewhat wonky) wool yarn wrapped around them.
More Googling also suggests that tying the first hand-twisted portion of yarn around a rock and spinning the rock is another primitive technique, but the one source I found didn't explain what they did with the twisted yarn while continuing to spin. I can't imagine they wrapped it around the rock. (eta: I found this video on YouTube, which suggests they simply tied a stick to the rock. I can see it being a short step from that point to finding a rock with a hole or making a hole n the rock, sticking the stick through it and tying it on.)
But anyway. This means that if I wanted to, I could take a baggie of wool and a knitting needle or other sticklike object onto a plane and kill time in a productive manner if I felt like it. Not sure I'll feel like it, but you never know.
* The tabletop sort, not the video-game sort or the online-forum sort.
The answer is...
...they used Sharpies.
Or a perhaps a stick if there were no nearby Sharpies.
Some of you might remember that some time back I got a session of tutoring on spinning from one of my mom's friends. I bought a spindle and some wool, spun in front of the TV once or twice, and then we discovered that Sora liked to sit in the box of wool, so to prevent him from messing it up we closed up the box and put it on a tall shelf, whereupon I immediately forgot it existed.
A few months back, Toby decided to take up knitting because he wanted something to do with his hands while watching TV and playing RPGs.* And one of my coworkers started a weekly
I am naturally not very good. :) Today I was trying to focus on keeping my yarn a consistent thickness, and while I wasn't that successful, I was more successful than I'd previously been.
However, I had a small puff of wool that came off the bunch I was holding in my hand at one point, and was sitting at my desk twisting it and messing with it, and started wondering about the development of spinning and how to spin without a spindle. One Google later, and I had my answer, and now have two Sharpies with (still somewhat wonky) wool yarn wrapped around them.
More Googling also suggests that tying the first hand-twisted portion of yarn around a rock and spinning the rock is another primitive technique, but the one source I found didn't explain what they did with the twisted yarn while continuing to spin. I can't imagine they wrapped it around the rock. (eta: I found this video on YouTube, which suggests they simply tied a stick to the rock. I can see it being a short step from that point to finding a rock with a hole or making a hole n the rock, sticking the stick through it and tying it on.)
But anyway. This means that if I wanted to, I could take a baggie of wool and a knitting needle or other sticklike object onto a plane and kill time in a productive manner if I felt like it. Not sure I'll feel like it, but you never know.
* The tabletop sort, not the video-game sort or the online-forum sort.
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I am tempted to take my tatting with me next time I have a plane trip. =)
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SPINDLES
So I told him YEAH, it won't stay twisted unless you either ply it or set the twist, both of which are usually done *after* the spinning, and technically yeah you could do Navajo plying as you were spinning, but jeez, it'd be easier to just go find a STICK....
And then I was asking did you need a spindle? I could make you one - and he sent me here.
So I'm glad to see you do have one. And yes, I've spun on a wheel, with a drop spindle, and just with my hands, but the basic spindle is such a freaking easy thing to make anyway....can wrap it around a pencil if need be.
Re: SPINDLES
I need to take the current (extremely) lumpy yarn off my drop spindle next, since it's big enough to cause unwanted wobbling when I spin it. I bought and used a niddy-noddy waaaay back when I took that lesson, but will have to reacquaint myself with it. And then see how well I can ply that yarn. It just takes finding the time. XD