Spinning (EN)

Location	Finland
Tags	spinning, hand spinning, wool yarn, spinning wheel, spindle, wool, flax

Practitioners and people who know the tradition well

The history of hand spinning extends back thousands of years. Today, hand spinning is a popular hobby among craft enthusiasts. The tradition is not limited to any one age group or profession; it is practised by hobbyists of different skill levels and by various craft circles. Textile professionals, such as teachers, textile artists, craftspeople and small entrepreneurs, spin and teach the skill. To some extent, shepherds and those who further process wool also spin by hand alongside their other work or work closely with small spinning mills. The largest group of hand-spinning practitioners is probably made up of students at adult education centres, courses and craft schools.

The activity is both organised and informal. Key national actors include, for example, regional Taito associations, adult education centres and private entrepreneurs, all of whom promote knowledge of and documentation related to hand spinning. In the Helsinki metropolitan area, Kehrääjien kilta ry (“Guild of Spinners”) is active, and in other cities, such as Tampere, there are regularly meeting groups.

At the same time, a significant part of practising the tradition takes place in small, informal communities: at home, at spinning evenings, in online communities and in social media groups. For many, hand spinning is a personal skill that is nevertheless shared communally. Dozens of spinning courses are organised annually in Finland in different parts of the country. In addition, spinning groups, for example in Tampere, Helsinki and Nivala, meet monthly. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of spinning enthusiasts throughout Finland. The active Facebook group Kehrääjät has 4,000 members.

Practising of the tradition

Hand spinning is practised in both traditional and modern ways. Spinning means twisting a bundle of fibre, such as flax, wool or hemp, into yarn by hand, with a spindle or with a spinning wheel. For spinning, raw sheep’s wool bought directly from farms is used. The raw wool is first sorted to remove debris, short fibres and the dirtiest wool. The wool is washed gently by soaking it in wash water so that it does not felt. After rinsing, the wool is dried loosely, after which it is prepared for spinning either by carding or by combing with wool combs. Carding can be done with hand carders, a drum carder or a blending board. Ready-to-spin carded or combed tops made from the wool of different sheep breeds, either undyed or dyed, are also sold by businesses. Hand dyeing spinning fibres is also popular. The main spinning material is sheep’s wool, but alpaca and dog hair, for example, are also used. Among plant fibres, spinners are especially interested in traditional flax as well as newer regenerated fibres such as tencel, soy and rose fibre. Before flax cultivation began in Finland, nettle was also spun, and the reintroduction of this material into hand spinning has also been studied and taught in recent years.

A wide variety of craft tools are used in spinning. Learning to spin often begins with a spindle, because it is easier to master than a fast treadle-driven spinning wheel. There are as many ways of spinning and different spinning tools as there are teachers and practitioners. In addition to the top-whorl and bottom-whorl spindles familiar in Finland, supported spindles rotated against a bowl or the ground, as well as larger plying spindles, known in Eastern Finland as taina, are also widely used. A Turkish spindle, where the yarn wound around its arms forms a ready-made ball, is also popular today. In Finland, much spinning still takes place on traditional slanting spinning wheels, but increasingly also on modern upright spinning wheels and electric spinning wheels. There are many different models and manufacturers, so each spinner can find one suited to their own purpose.

The finished yarn is used for knitting, weaving, crochet or textile art. Different fibres may be added to and blended with the spinning material according to intended use, texture or product. Luxurious silk, mohair and angora are often blended, for example, with merino wool. Various modern materials, glitter and strengthening fibres also inspire hand spinners. Different forms of the hand-spinning tradition can be identified, and these are among the reasons why spinning has become popular. Traditional self-sufficient spinning, in which the aim is to produce usable yarn for one’s own needs, is probably the traditional form and still the most popular one. Hand spinning also includes artistic and experimental spinning, in which the possibilities of fibres, structures and colours are explored.

A strongly recognised form of spinning is historical spinning, which is practised especially among historical re-enactors, at events and in connection with museums. Ecological local spinning emphasises the wish to make use of high-quality Finnish sheep’s wool and to support domestic and sustainable production.

As a counterbalance to a busy pace of life, the wellbeing effects of crafts are also visible in the popularity of spinning. For many, spinning appears almost as a meditative activity, in which the calming effect of the spinning wheel and concentration on the task take the maker into a state of flow.

The background and history of the tradition

Spinning with a spinning wheel. Photo: The Finnish Crafts Organization Taito

The roots of spinning reach back thousands of years. It can be assumed that spinning originated already in prehistoric times, when people noticed that as they rolled a tuft of animal hair between their fingers, it became stronger and longer through twisting. The first yarns were spun by hand or by rolling fibres against the thigh. They were probably used in obtaining food, for example as trap strings and nets. Spinning has been used for as long as woven or knitted clothes have been made, estimated to be already about 5,000 years. Archaeological finds confirm the great age of spinning: spindle whorls have been found from the Stone Age and the Iron Age. Textiles survive poorly in the soil, but the tools show that spinning was a central part of early technology in Finland as well. Soapstone spindle whorls from the eleventh century have been found in burial grounds in Finland. Very early on, the spindle was developed: a stick with a weight, or whorl, at one end. Stone was first used as the weight, and later clay, wood, bone or metal. The whorl increases momentum and keeps the spindle spinning longer. The spindle has been used around the world, and its exact place of origin is unknown. It probably developed simultaneously in different cultures. Its size and shape have varied according to its use: the smaller and lighter the spindle, the finer the yarn that can be spun with it. In Finland, spindle spinning remained in continuous use until the wars of the twentieth century, especially in Karelia and among the Skolt Sámi.

Although the skill of spinning is thousands of years old, the spinning wheel as we know it was developed only at the end of the Middle Ages. Around the eleventh century, a horizontal hand-cranked spinning wheel, the charkha, was developed in India. It spread to Europe in the fourteenth century through Asia and the Mediterranean region, where it developed into the great wheel.

The first treadle-driven spinning wheels came into use in the sixteenth century. A major advance was that it was now possible simultaneously to spin twist into the fibre or ply strands into yarn, and to wind the finished yarn onto a bobbin. Spinning wheels arrived in Finland at the end of the sixteenth century with Hanseatic merchants, but they did not become widespread until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The spinning wheel was a key tool in household self-sufficiency: in addition to wool, flax and hemp were spun. Spinning was often done during the winter and was connected with communal spinning evenings.

Spinning was an important and valued skill. The quality of the yarn determined the success of weaving, and a good spinner was highly respected. Spinning skill was also part of women’s economic competence and social position. It formed part of girls’ upbringing, affected marriageability and was linked to the dowry tradition. A draft of the 1752 servants’ act stated that a girl without spinning skills could not be announced for marriage.

Spinning machines developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries fundamentally changed yarn production. The Industrial Revolution gradually moved spinning from homes to factories. In Finland the change happened more slowly than in Central Europe, but in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the importance of home spinning began to decline. The payment of war reparations briefly made spinning common again.

In the late twentieth century, hand spinning began to revive. Interest in ecology, slow fashion, local materials and traditional working methods has increased appreciation for hand spinning. The tradition has changed from a necessity of a self-sufficient household economy into a conscious cultural choice.

The transmission of the tradition

Earlier, hand spinning was transmitted mainly within families and village communities through everyday work. Ready-made clothes and fabrics were not available as they are today, so necessity compelled people to spin and weave fabrics themselves for clothing and household use. Today, the tradition is practised mainly in courses, different spinning events and fairs. Courses are organised by adult education centres and regional Taito associations. Craft schools offering basic education in the arts also teach spinning to both adults and children.

Public demonstrations at different events, such as historical re-enactment events and Spin in Public days, also show people beyond the craft community that the tradition is alive and well. Easily accessible digital services, such as online courses, videos and social media, have expanded the learning environment and made possible both national and international networks.

Digitalisation has brought with it online courses, remote spinning circles and international communities. At the same time, physical spinning events, courses and workshops remain important meeting places. In recent years, several national spinning-themed events have been organised around Finland. For example, a three-day spinning gathering is held annually in Lestijärvi; in Helsinki, at the Design Museum in 2023, spinning took over the museum for one evening; and a spinning retreat was held in Kainuu in 2024. In 2025, a knitting and spinning meet-up was organised in Laukaa, and Kehrääjien viikonloppu, “a Spinners’ Weekend” was held in Tampere on the international Spin in Public day. Suuri Kehruutapahtuma, “The Large Spinning Event” in Hämeenlinna was organised in 2025 and 2026.

The Finnish Crafts Organization Taito chose spinning as the Craft Technique of the Year 2023. Among craft enthusiasts, spinning is clearly a growing trend, and this is explained by interest in transparency and authenticity in production. With this choice of craft technique of the year, The Finnish Crafts Organization Taito wanted to increase awareness of the origin story of yarn, textiles and materials, the number of work stages involved, and through that also to raise appreciation of materials.

Documenting of the tradition

Material related to hand spinning, including objects, photographs, videos, archival material, audiovisual material and literature, has been documented in museums, archives and libraries. Some of the material held by memory organisations can be accessed through the Finna.fi search service, but a large part of the material has still not been digitised or transferred from organisations’ own databases to Finna.

The collections of many local museums and local heritage museums, organisations, associations, educational institutions and private collectors contain a wide range of spinning tools, such as spindles and spinning wheels. The collections of museums, organisations and associations also include yarn samples.

Many local publications tell about skilled makers who have worked in different parts of Finland. Practitioners connected with spinning have included both makers of spinning wheels and spinning tools and the spinners themselves. For example, the village book of Kitula in Kannusjärvi, Vehkalahti, mentions Ville Suikkanen, whose products, other than spinning wheels, are included in the collections of the Craft Museum of Finland. Suikkanen, described as a master spinning-wheel maker, is said to have made more than 4,000 spinning wheels from 1913 until the 1940s and to have continued making them later as well. There are certainly similar skilled makers in different parts of Finland whose life stories have been or will be documented. A significant spinning-wheel collection is also held by the collector Sauli Rajala in Kiikka. He has a collection of more than 2,000 spinning wheels, which he presents by arrangement.

At different times, literature in the field has documented information about spinning and the skills and methods related to it. Photographs, instructions and experiential knowledge continue to be documented in the archives of associations and in digital environments. Today, a significant part of documentation also takes place in online communities, blogs and video platforms. YouTube is an important channel for transmitting information related to spinning and, to some extent, also for documenting it.

In the future, attention will need to be paid to the long-term preservation of digital material. Material currently available online will not necessarily be preserved for future generations. Knowledge about the file formats needed for long-term preservation is developing continuously. Documentation for future generations will succeed when cooperation between hand spinners and documenting actors, such as museums and archives, is developed alongside technical knowledge. Recording and editing work processes requires resources from both parties, but the resulting recordings will enable future generations to learn and repeat the different stages of spinning.

Sustainable development

Hand spinning and the use of domestic wool promote sustainable development from ecological, economic, social and cultural perspectives. Many spinners use renewable natural materials and local wool. The use of local wool increases the transparency of production chains, strengthens knowledge of the origin of materials and supports the local economy, also from the perspective of tourism. Processing domestic wool into yarn highlights its value and supports responsible livelihoods. By increasing interest, hand spinners seek to send a message to the Finnish wool industry that more domestic wool is wanted. Media reports that wool is more readily burned than taken to a spinning mill have shocked many people, and a change in this is hoped for.

Spinning deepens material awareness and understanding of the entire life cycle of textiles. Processing raw wool into finished yarn makes visible the labour and time involved in making clothing. This supports the principles of sustainable clothing: thoughtful making, durability, maintenance and repair. The slow craft process acts as a counterbalance to throwaway culture and fast fashion. At the same time, it maintains craft heritage and the tacit knowledge connected to it and enables skills to be passed from one generation to the next through communal activity. Craft communities are important to many people in increasing wellbeing and creating a sense of belonging.

The future of the tradition

The future of hand spinning appears vibrant and continuously renewing. Ecological values and interest in local production and slow making increase the significance of the tradition. Hand spinning inspires people towards communal activity, and numerous groups gather around spinning and bring practitioners together.

The tradition also influences society, because it strengthens thinking about sustainable consumption by increasing understanding of textile production chains. The popularity of local wool supports rural livelihoods and small entrepreneurship, and the experiential nature of visits to sheep farms and rural tourism is a growing tourism trend. Diversity enriches the tradition, as makers from different cultural backgrounds bring with them new techniques, fibres and perspectives. At the same time, the tradition preserves its core: handmade, material-based yarn production. In the future, hand spinning will function both as cultural heritage and as a creative and sustainable response to the challenges of the present day.