Carded and washed wool, silk, and cotton fibers need to be spun into yarns
before they can be woven. At the simplest level this can be done by pulling
some fibers out of a cluster of carded wool or cotton and rubbing them back
and forth between the palms. A weight or spindle whorl can be attached to
one end of the fibers to allow gravity to facilitate the process, making the
spinning tighter. Hand spinning can also be aided by use of a spinning
wheel. Since the fibers of cotton and especially silk are much finer than
wool, a spinning wheel is more of a requirement in turning these materials
into yarns. Individual spun yarns can then be plied together to make a
stronger, cable- or rope-like yarn that is necessary in the warp threads of
the rug foundation. Machine spinning became common over the last century,
but since it is so mechanically regular, machine-spun wool eliminates many
of the textural, reflective variations that animate the surface of rugs made
from hand-spun wool. Consequently, a revival of hand-spinning has
accompanied the revival of natural dyes in the past twenty years.
