Strathkinness Spinning Group

Margareta Milner, although spinning mostly for pleasure, has found that

people want to buy her spun yarns for their beauty and quality. She writes;

‘The question I have most often been asked is why do I bother with such

a time-consuming hobby when there is such a variety of wools on the market?

Maybe it is because people have become spoilt for choice that many take up

this ancient craft and produce beautiful yet simple yarns suitable for weaving,

knitting, crocheting, embroidery etc. There is also something fascinating

about the gentle humming of a spinning wheel. Many (now spinning) friends

of mine got “hooked” just by watching someone spin.

‘The Strathkinness Spinning Group, which meets monthly, was responsible

for my addiction to the wheel. The group was founded by Grethe Thomson

and Barbara Evans. It is a multi-national group with the majority of its

members coming from countries outside Britain; namely Denmark, Austria,

New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States.

‘My first evening’s attempts at producing a thread resulted either in useless

spirals of wool or loose disintegrating bits of fleece. A yarn emerged a few

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hours and lots of encouragement later — very uneven, but of special character

that is difficult to reproduce once the technique has been mastered.

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‘How much preparation has to be done prior to spinning depends on the

quality of the fleece; some open-textured, short-stapled ones can be teased

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by hand to shake out dirt and vegetable matter, and spun right away; others

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may need carding on a pair of carders — a kind of brush set with close metal

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spikes which transforms a lock of fleece into a tube-like shape called a rolag.

‘Handspinners in this country have a very good choice of sheep breeds

ranging from very soft (Southdown, Shetland) to coarse and hairy (Blackface,

Swaledale) and long and lustrous (Romney Kent), and it is often the soft,

medium-long fleeces that appeal to handspinners for their versatility. The

fleece itself not only varies in softness (the best parts coming from the neck

and back), but also in colour: white and grey Cheviots, white, grey, moorit

(moor-red), brown Shetlands, creamy-white Suffolk, and the grey, brown,

black and white found in the popular Jacobs. Locally obtainable are Suffolk

crossbreds, Jacobs, Border Leicesters, Blackface etc. The wool spun from

lan Law’s sheep in Strathkinness proved easy and quick to spin, hard wearing

and versatile for hats, mittens, cushions and jumpers.

‘Spinning may be thought of as a winter evening’s activity in front of an

open fire, but it is just as relaxing on a summer’s day in the garden. Moreover,

the early summer fleeces are full of natural oils and very pleasant to spin.

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