Spindling and Fiber Definitions

A list of terms which you may at some point encounter while spindle spinning.
This dictionary is a work in progress to which photos will slowly be added.

Akha Spindle - a spindle from Southeast Asia. The Akha spindle has a cane shaft about 8 - 10 inches long with a hook carved on one end. Centered on the shaft is a whorl 2 - 2.5 inches in diameter.
Andean Plying - a plying method which allows a single to be plied onto itself. . Click here for instructional pictures and videos.
Angelina® - a very fine, soft, luminescent fiber that is both light reflective and light refractive.
Angora - a fiber from an angora rabbit.
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Balanced Yarn - a finished yarn that does not kink or twist back on itself.
Balkan Spindle - a type of spindle with two fixed whorls.
Barber Pole Yarn - a yarn where two colored yarns are plied together. Also called "ragg" or "marled" yarn.
Bast Fibers - a fiber which comes from the inner bark tissue from the stems of source plants. Common bast fibers include flax, hemp and ramie.
Batt - a thick, soft, "blanket" of fiber. Batts are generally produced on a drum carder.
Blood Count - one of three system for describing grades/fineness of wool. It originally referred to the amount of Merino blood present in the sheep breed. Now it generally refers to the fineness of the fleece. The higher the number, the shorter expected staple length and finer expected crimp. Grades include: "Fine" (64's - 80's), "Half Blood" (58's - 62's), "3/8 Blood" (52's - 56's), "1/4 Blood" (48's - 50's), "Low quarter Blood" (46's), "Common" (44's), "Braid" (30's - 40's).
Bombyx Silk - a smooth white silk from the Bombyx mori. Also called cultivated silk.
Bouclé - a curly or loopy yarn.
Bottom Whorl Spindle - a drop spindle where the whorl is on or near the bottom of the shaft. Click here for instructional video on using a bottom whorl spindle.
Bradford Count - one of three grading systems to describe the fineness of wool. The Bradford system uses the number of 560 yard worsted spun skeins from a pound of top from that particular type of fleece. The larger the number, the finer the fleece. The Bradford Count has generally replaced the Blood Count as a grading system.
Break - weak spots in a fleece, generally uniform across the entire fleece. Breaks are generally caused by stress (lack of food/water, lambing, travel, etc). To check, grab a lock of fleece on either end and give a sharp pull. If the fiber has a break, the lock will come apart. Test another lock from a different spot on the fleece. If it comes apart again, the fleece is "damaged" by the break.
Britch Wool - wool from the sheep's hindquarters. Generally britch wool is contaminated with dung and/or urine stained.
Bump - roving that has been wound into a ball or onto a center pull tube.
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Cabled Yarn - yarn that is plied with an extra, excessive twist and then plied back on itself.
Caged Yarn - also called nep, knop, or tufted yarn. Small fiber clumps are randomly inserted between the plying strands.
Camelid - a member of the camel family. Includes camel, llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña.
Carding - using cards to prepare fiber. Carding will open, clean and blend fibers. Carding arranges both short and long fibers in an orderly yet random way. Carded fibers will help you to spin lofty, woolen yarns. Click here for instructional videos on carding.
Carding Cloth - the strip of material, generally leather or rubber, which contains metal teeth. It is affixed to hand carders or to a drum carder. The finer and closer spaced the teeth are, the better it is for finer fiber.
Cards - hand tools that are similar to dog slicker brushes. They are used in pairs to prepare wool for spinning.
Cashgora - a crossbreed between cashmere and angora goats.
Cellulose Fiber - fibers coming from plants. This includes cotton, flax, hemp, etc.
Coated - a fleece from a sheep that wore a jacket of sorts. Coats were originally used to prevent colored sheep from being sun bleached. Coated fleece is said to have less dirt and vegetable matter than uncoated fleece. Coats can also contribute to a fleece being cotty or felted and can even contribute to wool rot. The coat can also lead to a right angle bend in the fleece staple/locks. It's ultimately up to the spinner to decide if a coated fleece or an uncoated fleece is prefered.
Combing - using combs to prepare fiber. Combing aligns the long fibers parallel to one another while opening, cleaning, blending colors, and removing shorter fibers. Combed fibers will help you to spin a worsted type yarn.
Combs - See photo. Tools with long sharp tines used to process fiber. The number of rows of tines is referred to as pitch. Example - 5 pitch combs will have 5 rows of tines.
Cop or Copp - the yarn that is wound around a spindle shaft. It may be shaped like a cone, beehive, football, or mound.
Core Spinning - unspun yarn is wrapped around a core single or yarn.
Cotty - fiber that is felted or matted together on the cut end of the fiber. This means the fiber has felted while on the sheep. If a fleece is cotted, the handspinner must decide if the cottiness can be easily removed or not.
Crimp - the wavy bends in the individual fiber strand.
Crossbreed - a mixed breed of sheep. Sometimes shown with an "X" as part of the breed name. Example: Merino-X.
Cultivated Silk - a smooth white silk from the Bombyx mori. Also called Bombyx silk.
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Distaff - a device used to hold fibers while spinning. Distaves can take many forms from a "Y" shaped twig, to a bracelet, to a paddle shape, etc. Click here for instructional video on using your wrist as a distaff.
Diz - generally a concave device with a small hole in it used while preparing fibers. It can be used as part of the combing or carding process. It is a pre-drafting aide. The end product is generally considered to be a sliver.
Draft - to pull or tease apart fiber while spinning.
Drafting Triangle or Drafting Zone - See photo. Also called "the magic triangle" - it is the area between a spinner's hands/fingers where the fibers are pulled from the fiber supply and are twisted into yarn.
Drop Spindle - a spindle that is suspended freely from the forming yarn.
Drum Carder - a machine that replaces hand cards. Can be hand cranked or electric. Click here to see instructional video on using a drum carder.
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Elasticity - a quality of a yarn or a fiber. Elastic fibers/yarns will stretch when pulled and will return to their original shape when released.
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Fine Wool - generally wools classified as "fine wool" have a very short staple, fine fiber, and a very tiny, tight crimp.
Firestar - a sparkly, nylon blending fiber.
Flax - a plant whose stem fibers are used to spin linen. Flax requires retting to remove the fiber from the stems.
Fleece - the coat of wool from a sheep or other animal.
Flicker - the hand card like tool used in the flickering process.
Flickering or Flicking - Also refered to as "picking" or "teasing". A method of preparing wool for carding, combing or spinning. Click here for instructional video on flicking.
From the fold - Spinning from a strip of prepared fiber folded over the index finger, allowing the drafting triangle to tent over the tip of the index finger. Click here and here for instructional video on spinning from the fold.
Frass - a sand like organic waste from insects. Moth poop!
Fulling - a finishing process performed on fabric that encourages the fibers to expand and mesh together to form a more cohesive fabric. Traditionally this involved a group of people gathered around a table with the wet fabric, now it's often performed in a waching machine.
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Garnets - also known as thrums. Small bits of leftover yarn, felt, etc. that are added to the fiber while carding.
Guard Hair - a coarse wiry layer of hair which protects a soft downy undercoat.
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Hackle - a tool for separating the long flax fibers from the short material. A hackle may also be used with a comb to process wool fibers.
Hand - how a fiber, yarn or fabric feels.
Hank - a loosely wound coil of yarn or fiber that is twisted back on itself. A string tied in several places around the hank will keep the hank from tangling.
Hemp - Fiber from the Cannabis sativa plant. It is similar to flax, but coarser and longer.
High whorl spindle - a drop spindle whose whorl is at or near the top of the shaft.
Hogget - a young sheep, generally 12 - 18 months, that has not been shorn. Hogget may also refer to the first fleece sheered from a sheep.
Hooked Stick - a spindle in its simplest form. It lacks a whorl and can be made from a tree branch, carved wooden stick, or even a shaped piece of metal. A pen can be used as a hooked stick. Generally hooked sticks can be used as a supported spindle or as a drop spindle.
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Icelandic Lap Spindles - similar in form and use to the more common Navajo spindle, the Icelandic Lap Spindle has its whorl towards the wool supply and the cop of yarn is wound around the far end of the spindle shaft.
Inch Worm - a short draw drafting technique where both hands work the fiber. One hand controls the twist while the other hand pulls and feeds fiber to be spun. Click here for instructional video on inchworm drafting.
Ingeo - a fiber made from poly lactic acid which has been removed from corn.
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Keds - a blood sucking fly also called a "sheep tick". They do survive for less than a week in a shorn fleece. Keds can be a problem for the spinner because they will cause a permanent, rusty-red stain during processing.
Kemp - thicker hairs from the legs, belly and sometimes rump, they are coarse and undesireable. Often they are kinked rather than crimpy.
Knop Yarn(1) - also called nep, tufted, or cage yarn. Small fiber clumps are randomly inserted between the plying strands.
Knop Yarn(2) - also known as "seed" or "knot" yarn. Knot yarns are made during the plying process where one yarn is allowed to wrap around the other until a firm bump is built up.
Knot Yarn - also known as "seed" or "knop" yarn. Knot yarns are made during the plying process where one yarn is allowed to wrap around the other until a firm bump is built up.
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Lanolin - a yellowish-white substance produced by sheep. Sheep grease.
Lazy Kate or Lizzy Kate - a device used to hold bobbins or spindles while plying.
Leader - the starting yarn that comes up off the spindle. A leader may be made from your fiber or from an already made bit of yarn. Click Here for an instructional video on how to start a leader.
Line Flax - the long flax fibers.
Lock - See photo. A group or bunch of fibers formed by a natural division in a fleece.
Long Draw - a method of spinning where the fibers are controlled entirely by one drafting hand, pulling back against the twist. Click here for instructional video on long draw drafting.
Long Wool - also called "strong wool". Generally long wools have a long staple length, a thick fiber and a big loose crimp.
Low Whorl Spindle - a drop spindle where the whorl is on or near the bottom of the shaft. Click here for instructional video on using a low whorl spindle.
Luster - shine.
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Magic Triangle - See photo. The drafting zone or triangle. It is the area between a spinner's hands/fingers where the fibers are pulled from the fiber supply and are twisted into yarn.
Marled Yarn - a yarn where two colored yarns are plied together. Also called "barber pole" or "ragg" yarn.
Mawata - silk cocoons opened and spread out.
McMorran Yarn Balance - a simple balance used to help determine the yards per pound of your handspun fiber.
Medium Wool - a wool that shows characteristics of both long wools and fine wools.
Micron Count - one of three wool grading systems. Micron count is based on the average fiber diameter. The smaller the number, the finer/softer the fiber.
Mohair - hair from an angora goat.
Moorit - a reddish brown fleece color.
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Navajo ply - makes a three-ply yarn from a single piece of yarn. This is done by making slip loops or finger crocheting the yarn and adding twist to it. Click here to see instructional video on Navajo plying.
Navajo Spindle - a long (up to 36") support spindle with a large whorl. The Navajo spindle is designed to be supported by the floor while the spinner sits in a chair or more traditionally on the floor. Click here for instructional video on using a Navajo spindle.
Nep - a tangled knot or broken/disarranged fibers. Knobby wads of such fibers forming slubs in yarn.
Nep Yarn - also called tuft, knop, or cage yarn. Small fiber clumps are randomly inserted between the plying strands.
Niddy Noddy - a winding device. Click here for instructional video on using a niddy noddy.
Noils - short broken bits of fiber generally caused by carding, combing or picking.
Nostepinne - See photo. A short baton used for winding center pull balls. Can be a specifically turned piece of wood or it can be made from a found item (toilet paper tubes, broom handles, etc). Click here for instructional video on using a nostepinne.
Novelty Yarn - a fun "imperfectly" spun or constructed yarn.
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Optim - a wool fiber which has been stretched. This increases the staple length, decreases the diameter, and removes its crimp.
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Park and Draft - a method of spinning where one adds twist to the fiber, stops, then drafts the fiber, rather than doing both actions simultaneously. Click here for instructional video on park and draft spinning.
Pencil Roving - a narrow roving about the diameter of a pencil.
Peruvian Wind On - A way to keep long lengths of newly spun yarn from getting tangled while winding on. Open your thumb and first finger so you are making an "L" (or backwards "L") shape. Catch your new yarn over your finger, then over your thumb, in a figure eight fashion. Repeat back and forth until all your newly spun yarn is used up. When ready, wind your yarn onto the shaft of your spindle by slipping one crossed length off your fingers. The cross keeps the yarn from getting tangled.
Pick - Also refered to as "teasing" for "flicking". Pulling apart clumps in the fiber to produce a uniformly fluffy mass. This also helps to remove vegetable matter. Click here to see instructional video on picking fiber.
Picker - a device to pick or open locks of wool. Pickers can be hands/fingers, rakes, combs, heckles, swing pickers, sled pickers, etc.
Pitch - the number of rows of tines on combs.
Plying - twisting together two or more single yarns to make a stable final yarn.
Plying Template or Plying Disk - a simple device used during plying to help keep singles organized and under an even plying tension. Generally a plying template is a disk with holes in it.
Point of Contact - a form of long draw drafting.
Point of Twist - the point where the twist enters the new fiber.
Predraft - to pull or tease apart fiber in preparation for spinning. Click Here for instructional videos on predrafting.
Pulled Wool - Wool removed from dead sheep or their pelts.
Puni - a tightly rolled cotton rolag.
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Quivut - the fiber from the downy undercoat of the Ovibos moschatus, more commonly known as the Musk Ox.
Quill - a core for winding yarn onto. Plastic soda straws make a good quill as do Post It® Notes. Fit one over your spindle shaft and you can easily remove the cop for later plying or for use in a weaving shuttle.
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Ragg Yarn - a yarn where two colored yarns are plied together. Also called "barber pole" or "marled" yarn.
Ramie - fiber from a tropical nettle, Boehmeria nivea.
Rett - damp/wet treatment of bundles of flax, separating the fiber from the stem material.
Rolag - fibers coming off hand cards that are rolled into a tube for spinning. Click here to see instructional video on making a rolag.
Rooing - Plucking a naturally shedding fiber from the animal.
Roving - fiber prepared for spinning. Roving is generally the result of a low draft, low twist commercial preparation process.
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S Twist - the twist angle runs upwards to the left, in the same direction as the center stroke of the letter "S" It is made by spinning your spindle in a counter clockwise direction.
Scutch or Swingled - to separate the broken woody bits remainging on the flax after the retting process.
Scour - a thorough cleaning or washing which removes lanolin.
Scurf - skin flakes; dandruf. Scurf can be difficult to remove since it does not dissolve during washing and does not break down during carding. Combing can sometimes remove it.
Second Cuts - short, chunky bits of wool resulting from the shearer making a second stroke or cut with the clippers. Generally, second cuts are not desired in a handspinning fleece.
Seed Yarn - also known as "knot" or "knop" yarn. Knot yarns are made during the plying process where one yarn is allowed to wrap around the other until a firm bump is built up.
Shaft - the slender straight part of the spindle. Generally made from a piece of wood or a metal rod. The shaft is the axis on which the spindle spins.
Short Draw - see Inch Worm.
Silk Bell - a bundle of about a dozen silk caps. A bell weighs about one pound.
Silk Brick - combed silk fiber in a brick form.
Silk Caps - a silk cocoon that has been cleaned and stretched over a bell shaped form.
Silk Hankie - a silk cocoon that has been cleaned and stretched over a square form.
Silk Latte™ - a fiber produced from milk proteins.
Single - a single strand of twisted fibers.
Skein - a ready to use put up of yarn. Skeins can take various shapes, each wound so that the innermost end can be pulled from the center.
Skirt - to remove stained or dirty edges from a fleece.
Sliver - a form of fiber. An untwisted ribbon of fiber.
Slubs - thicker, less twisted areas in your yarn.
Snarl Yarn - a yarn created when a very overtwisted wrapping yarn is plied with a finer core yarn and then plied with a third binder yarn.
Soy Silk™ - a fiber made from waste created during tofu manufacturing.
Spinning in the Grease - To spin fiber that has not been washed and/or scoured.
Spiral Yarn - a wrapping yarn corkscrews around a finer core yarn.
Spot Core Spinning - a bare core alternates with a wrapped cord. See Core Spinning above.
Staple - length of individual fibers.
Suint - Sheep sweat.
Support Spindle - any spindle whose weight is never fully supported by the newly spun yarn. Instead, the spindle sits rested in a cup or bowl, ground or floor, hand or foot, or even the spinner's shoe. Because the spindle weight does not bear down on the yarn, the support spindle is ideal for spinning very thin, fine yarns.
Swift - a tool for unwinding skeins.
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Takli or Tahkli - a small metal whorled spindle with a metal shaft which is pointed on the bottom end and hooked at the top. Generally used as a support spindle for spinning cotton. Click here and here for instructional video on using a takli.
Teasing - Also refered to as "picking" or "flicking". Pulling apart clumps in the fiber to produce a uniformly fluffy mass. This also helps to remove vegetable matter. Teasing can be done by hand or with a mechanical picker. Click here to see instructional video on teasing fiber.
Tencel® - a fiber made from wood pulp.
Tender - generally weak fiber caused mostly by various extended stressors to the animal.
Thel - the softer undercoat of a Icelandic sheep. The thel is considered to be a fine wool, lustrous with irregular crimp and a fine, soft hand.
Thigh Roll - to set a spindle in motion by rolling it on your thigh with the palm of your hand. Click here for instructinoal video on thigh rolling.
Thrums - also known as garnets. Small bits of leftover yarn, felt, etc. that are added to the fiber while carding.
Tippy - the tips of the lock are generally dirty and matted together.
Tog - the long outer coat of an Icelandic sheep. Tog is generally considered a medium wool with little to no crimp.
Top - a fiber preparation where all the fibers are combed and aligned. All short or broken fibers, noils, neps and debris have been removed.
Top whorl spindle - a drop spindle whose whorl is at or near the top of the shaft.
Tow - short, coarse and broken strands of hemp or flax. It results from the hackling process.
TPI - Twists per Inch or Turns per Inch.
Tuft Yarn - also called nep, knop, or cage yarn. Small fiber clumps are randomly inserted between the plying strands.
Turkish Spindle - a spindle that produces a center pull ball of yarn. When finished, the shaft of the Turkish Spindle is slid out and the arms then slipped apart to release the ball of yarn.
Tussah Silk - a golden colored and slightly textured silk. Tussah comes from the Antheraea paphia.
Twist Direction - See S twist or Z twist.
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VM or Vegetable Matter - any organic foreign matter in a fleece. This can include seeds, burrs, twigs, etc. VM makes a fleece more difficult to process.
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Wether - a castrated sheep. Supposed to grow a fuller or heavier fleece.
Wool Rot - a pale pink bacterial stain which has an offensive odor.
Whorl - whorls are what helps keep the spindle spinning. Whorls shapes can take many forms - disks, spheres, half spheres, etc. The whorl can also be a set of cross arms as in the case of the Turkish Spindle. Whorls can be made of almost any material - wood, ceramics, glass, polyclay, a CD, or stone to name a few.
Wind On - the process of turning the spindle by hand after a length of single has been spun in order to produce a cop. Winding the single onto the spindle shaft. Click here for instructional video on winding on.
Wool - generally refers to fiber from a sheep. May also be used to describe fiber from other animals.
Woolen Yarn - a woolen yarn is fat and poofy and airy. Think woolen for Lopi sweaters. The airiness in woolen yarn makes for lightweight but warm sweaters.
Worsted Yarn - a worsted yarn is compressed and slick and maybe a bit shiny. Think worsted for gansey or Aran sweaters. Worsted yarn makes for good stitch definition.
WPI - Wraps Per Inch. A way of measuring the size of finished yarn. Click here for instructions on determining WPI.
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X-Wind On - a method of winding yarn onto the spindle shaft that helps minimize slippage. Click here for an instructional video on the "X" wind-on.
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Yolk - a bright yellow stain caused by a bacteria that feeds on lanolin, wool wax and wool staple. It's often seen as a yellow band running horizontally through a fleece. If caught in time, yolk may be washed out. If left unattended, the yolk will continue to consume the fleece making it yellow and weakening the staple.
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Z twist - The twist angle runs upward and to the right, the same a the center stroke in the letter "Z". Yarn spun clockwise is said to have a "Z" twist.
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