Spinning & Weaving

The spinning wheel was the main engine in the house, everyone depended on it. Every house around the area had a spinning wheel; it was given a prominent place in the kitchen, people had to walk around it and nobody was allowed to touch it apart from the woman of the house as the big wheel was important but dangerous for children.

Once the sheep were sheared, the wool was prepared for washing. This meant cutting off the dirty bits. Most sheep had “raddle” on them and this was also cut off. Raddle was a paint used to identify one’s own sheep, usually red or blue colours, and applied on the sheep’s back or neck after shearing. The wool was then taken and washed in a bucket of water, very gently. Soap was not used as it would take the natural oils out of the wool. It was amazing to see how all the dirt and bits of grass would come out by just using plain water. Once the wool was washed it was taken out of the bucket and laid out on the grass or up on a stone fence to dry.

The wool then needed to be teased and carded. Cards are two paddle type implements which have wire teeth. The teased wool was placed between the teeth of the two cards and pulled back and forth. Carding the wool was done to get all the fibres even in it; experience would tell you when they were even. Once the wool was carded it was made into rolls and left in a big box for spinning at a later date. It might be a few days later when you got back to the spinning, you’d spend the night spinning, make two good balls of thread, then you wouldn’t be long running up a jumper.

The roll of carded wool was put on the spindle and the big wheel was turned around. A band connected the wheel to the spindle, which turned the spindle. Both hands were needed to ensure the roll was even and taut as it went onto the spindle. When the spindle was full it was taken off and a new spindle was put on. As children we would wait for the spindle to be full up so that we could roll it up, especially if it was near bed time. You’d be delighted and even offer to do it because you’d get to wait up longer.

To dye the wool onion peels were boiled in water and the wool was placed into it. Also used for colours were heathers from the bog, roots of water lily and the roots of heathers, whin or gorse bush flowers and seaweed. Certain shells were also used. “Shroughlough” was the local Irish name for a fungus or moss that grew on rocks; it gave shades of yellow, white and green. Blackberries, sloes and leaves from different evergreens were also used.

Different counties had different methods of spinning and dyeing the wool. Some areas layered the moss through the wool to get different shades. The big spinning wheel was most common to Mayo and Galway. Donegal and Kerry had a small wheel you sat down at and worked by foot.

It was more than likely that wood which came ashore was used for making the spinning wheels; there was no money or transport to go to town for timber. Spinning wheels were all home made and kept repaired; there was usually somebody in the village that handmade them. The spinning wheel demonstrating on the night is over one hundred years old and forty years ago the lady’s uncle put new spokes into the wheel.

A spinning wheel never left the house, if the woman of the house was carding or spinning and neighbours called in, she could “card away” and chat at the same time. They would swap stories of different dyes and give presents of nice colours to their neighbours. At the age of seven or eight you were able to knit properly and most winter nights and wet days were spent knitting. If you were waiting for a new pair of socks or a new jumper, you’d help out with the other jobs so that the mother could spin the wool. There were always grandparents in the house as well, so that was a big help to the mother.

Warping was done using wooden pins stuck into the ground, the wool was then threaded back and over, this was all done by hand.

There was a weaver in every village and each had their own set-up in their own home all made from wood. The people took their rolls of wool to the weaver and he would make the blankets etc.

In school, all the girls were taught how to knit, sew and do crochet work. You brought the thread to school with you. Each girl had a “Needlework Book” and you sewed into it. You would sew on a little cloth and then sew this into the book. The inspector could come at any time and look through this book to see what you had done. There were so many different stitches and we also learned hemming.

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