Spinning Wheels

Spinning is a very old craft. The first spinning was done by twisting fibers by hand, but this evolved into the drop spindle and then the spinning wheel. The first true spinning wheel is believed to have been invented in India about a thousand years ago. The idea spread to other parts of Asia and Europe.

There are two basic types of spinning wheels, The great wheel or high wheel is the oldest style. It's sometimes called a walking wheel, because the spinner stands beside the wheel. The high wheel is often used to spin wool yarn. This was the style most often used in mountain regions and where sheep were raised. For example, the Scots used the wool threads to weave their tartan plaids, and the pattern denoted their clan.

The treadle wheel or the flax wheel was developed around the sixteenth century. This is the type of wheel associated more with the fairy tales, like "Cinderella" and "Rumpelstiltskin." The spinner sits to use it, and it's used more to spin flax into linen thread.

Spinning and weaving became important industries, both in the home and as a business. In the colonies, weavers often blended the wool and linen to make a durable fabric known as linsey-woolsey. Spinning and weaving lasted well into the 19th and even 20th centuries in remote areas like the Highlands and the Appalachians.

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