Spinning craft in old Lithuania

The oldest method of spinning is the spinning of flax fiber with the fingers - this is how many peoples of the world spun. Another archaic method of spinning, widespread both in the world and in Lithuania, is spindle spinning. When spinning with a spindle, wooden spindles were used to attach the tow, consisting of two parts: the upper part (on average 40-45 cm long) - the "head" with a stem (about 40-50 cm) and the lower part - on which the spinner sat, the so-called "legs" (on average about 50 - 60 cm long). In Lithuania, there were three types of lobetic spindles - with a wide quadrangular upper part, a spindle shaped like a leaf that tapers upwards, and a spindle with a flat cut top. Spindles were characterized by archaic, generalized forms. The outer, visible part of the spindle is richly decorated with contour and deep cuts. The decoration was dominated by geometric patterns, such as circles filled with bidirectional, incised carvings, in the middle of which there are various segmented stars. These ancient symbols of celestial lights are often composed of several on the spindles, combined with groups of rhombuses - representing plowed soil. The motif of a singing bird was also common in the decoration of the spindle.
Spindles, on which the spun threads were wound, are designed for two types: wooden, round in diameter with a stem, with a flywheel attached at the end, and turned from a solid piece of wood, without an attached flywheel (with a "beard" in its place).
In China during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 25 AD), “an unknown inventor put a spindle on an axle with a driving wheel that was turned by hand - thus the spinning wheel appeared. Spinning wheels arrived in Europe only in the 13th century, where they were also turned by hand. Somewhat later - after 250 years - spinning wheels with a foot pan started to spread from England.
The spinning wheel itself consists of a thread spool, a wheel, a wheel, a seat, a spindle, and three legs. The mentioned leg is mentioned and thus the wheel is turned. The fiber bundle is attached to the spindle. While turning the wheel with her foot, the spinner picks the yarn from the skein with her left hand, while holding it with her right hand, smooths the thread, adjusts the thickness of the thread and lets it into the spool.
In old Lithuania, spinning wheels were mostly spun by women (especially in winter, when they were free from agricultural work). It was spun for the family, the estate. Until the 19th century at the end of the 20th century in many places in the first half, in the villages, women used to gather at someone's house to spin together - to have dinner. They raced, told stories, sang, etc. 19th century with the spread of factory textiles and factory-made yarn, the tradition of home spinning in old Lithuania began to disappear. 19th century at the end of the 20th century In the first half, spinning was mainly for orders: textile weavers or older women spun wool for gloves, socks and other articles.