Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose, animal fibers such as wool, and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarn</span> Long continuous length of interlocked fibres](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Yarn_at_Folklife_-_Stierch.jpg/320px-Yarn_at_Folklife_-_Stierch.jpg)
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses. Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinning wheel</span> Device for spinning thread, yarn, or silk from natural or synthetic fibers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Elderlyspinnera.jpg/320px-Elderlyspinnera.jpg)
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the cotton textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning frame, which displaced the spinning wheel during the Industrial Revolution.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worsted</span> Fabrics manufactured from worsted yarns](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Girl%27s_blue_worsted_wool_dress_-_DPLA_-_842dcae8d89285714cdadde9daaf6a02_%28page_1%29.jpg/320px-Girl%27s_blue_worsted_wool_dress_-_DPLA_-_842dcae8d89285714cdadde9daaf6a02_%28page_1%29.jpg)
Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the County of Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carding</span> Process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Jamieson_wool_Shetland.jpg/320px-Jamieson_wool_Shetland.jpg)
Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving surfaces covered with "card clothing", a firm flexible material embedded with metal pins. It breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres to be parallel with each other. In preparing wool fibre for spinning, carding is the step that comes after teasing.
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted yarn, in which the fibers are combed to lie parallel rather than carded, producing a hard, strong yarn.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinning jenny</span> Multi-spool spinning frame](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Spinning_jenny.jpg/320px-Spinning_jenny.jpg)
The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan hill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinning frame</span> Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread in a mechanized way](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Spinning_frame01.jpg/320px-Spinning_frame01.jpg)
The spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay.
In the textile arts, plying is a process of twisting one or more strings of yarn together to create a stronger yarn. Strands are twisted together in the direction opposite that in which they were spun. Plied yarns will not unravel, break, or degrade as easily as unplied yarns. When enough twist is added to the plies to counter the initial twist of each strand, the resulting yarn is "balanced", having no tendency to twist upon itself.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spindle (textiles)</span> Spike used for spinning fibers into yarn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Drop_spindles.jpg/320px-Drop_spindles.jpg)
A spindle is a straight spike, usually made from wood, used for spinning, twisting fibers such as wool, flax, hemp, cotton into yarn. It is often weighted at either the bottom, middle, or top, commonly by a disc or spherical object called a whorl; many spindles, however, are weighted simply by thickening their shape towards the bottom, e.g. Orenburg and French spindles. The spindle may also have a hook, groove, or notch at the top to guide the yarn. Spindles come in many different sizes and weights depending on the thickness of the yarn one desires to spin.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile manufacturing</span> The industry which produces textiles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Finlaysonin_kutojia_vuonna_1951._Kuva_Veikko_Kanninen%2C_Vapriikin_kuva-arkisto._%2816248493129%29.jpg/320px-Finlaysonin_kutojia_vuonna_1951._Kuva_Veikko_Kanninen%2C_Vapriikin_kuva-arkisto._%2816248493129%29.jpg)
Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
TPI is a term used in the textile industry. It measures how much twist a yarn has, and can be calculated by counting the number of twists in an inch of yarn.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinning mule</span> Machine used to spin cotton and other fibres](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/A_working_Mule_spinning_machine_at_Quarry_Bank_Mill.theora.ogv/320px--A_working_Mule_spinning_machine_at_Quarry_Bank_Mill.theora.ogv.jpg)
The spinning mule is a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres. They were used extensively from the late 18th to the early 20th century in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer. The carriage carried up to 1,320 spindles and could be 150 feet (46 m) long, and would move forward and back a distance of 5 feet (1.5 m) four times a minute.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short draw</span> Drafting technique used with long-staple fibers in hand spinning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Shortdrawspinning.JPG/320px-Shortdrawspinning.JPG)
Short draw is the spinning technique used to create worsted yarns. It is spun from combed roving, sliver or wool top – anything with the fibers all lined up parallel to the yarn. It is generally spun from long stapled fibers. Short draw spun yarns are smooth, strong, sturdy yarns, and dense. Short draw spun yarns also tend to not be very elastic. These characteristics make them good for use in weaving.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long draw</span> Drafting technique used with short-staple yarns in hand spinning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Rolag.jpg/320px-Rolag.jpg)
Long draw is the spinning technique used to create woolen yarns. It is spun from carded rolags. It is generally spun from shorter stapled fibers. Long draw spun yarns are light, lofty, stretchy, soft, and full of air, thus they are good insulators, and make good knitting yarns.
Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salish weaving</span>](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Chief_George_and_daughter.jpg)
Salish are skilled weavers and knitters of the Pacific Northwest. They are most noted for their beautiful twill blankets many of which are very old. The adoption of new fabrics, dyes, and weaving techniques allow us to study a wide variety of Salish weavings today.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Industrial Museum</span> Industrial museum, Mill museum, Textile museum, in Eccleshill, Bradford](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Bradford_Industrial_Museum_entrance-1000.jpg/320px-Bradford_Industrial_Museum_entrance-1000.jpg)
Bradford Industrial Museum, established 1974 in Moorside Mills, Eccleshill, Bradford, United Kingdom, specializes in relics of local industry, especially printing and textile machinery, kept in working condition for regular demonstrations to the public. There is a Horse Emporium in the old canteen block plus a shop in the mill, and entry is free of charge.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowichan knitting</span> Form of knitting of the Cowichan people](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Cowichan_Sweater.jpg/320px-Cowichan_Sweater.jpg)
Cowichan knitting is a form of knitting characteristic of the Cowichan people of southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The distinctively patterned, heavy-knit Cowichan sweaters, popular among British Columbians and tourists, are produced using this method. Cowichan knitting is an acculturated art form, a combination of European textile techniques and Salish spinning and weaving methods. From this union, new tools, techniques and designs developed over the years.
![<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abby Franquemont</span>](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Abby_Franquemont_Machu_Picchu_%282%29.jpg/320px-Abby_Franquemont_Machu_Picchu_%282%29.jpg)
Abigail M. Franquemont is an American textile crafts writer, lecturer and educator, based in Cusco, Peru. She spent her early childhood among the Quechua people of Chinchero, Peru, where "women spun to eat and pay for the home they lived in." As a revivalist of the ancient art of hand spinning with the spindle, she published her book, Respect the Spindle, in 2009.