Carding
Using a machine with a drum with metal tines, dense clumps of fleece are broken up and made more even by lining up the fibres
Drive Wheel
The heavy wooden wheel that is like ‘the engine’ of a spinning wheel. It has a lot of inertia to help make spinning smooth and even
Flyer
The component on the spinning wheel that in conjunction with the bobbin puts the twist into the fibre
Lazy Kate
A holder for bobbins that is used when plying yarns together
Niddy Noddy
A hand held tool for winding yarn into a skein
Orifice
The opening at the end of the flyer that the yarn passes through when spinning
Plying
Spinning two or more single lengths of yarn into one plyed yarn.
Roving
A continuous length of unspun fibre prior to spinning
Shearing
The removal of fleece from an animal by the use of a mechanical shearing machine or a set of blade clippers
Skein
Spun or plyed yarn is wound into continuous loops approximately one metre in circumference. This collection of loops is called a skein
Spindle
A basic form of spinning where a weight on a shaft is used to twist the fibre into yarn
Whorl
The small pulley that is mounted on the flyer spindle. It provides the gearing for the different drive ratios of the spinning wheel