I have begun work on my Norn (master spinner). The requirements for Norn spinning with flax are three skeins of flax. One skein must be spun wet; one must be spun dry; and one must be spun three ply. More on all of that will follow as I progress.

I chose the bleached tow (flax/linen) in the picture from my pervious post. I took my bleached tow supply to my local grocery store and weighed it. I did that because my scale is broken. I have plans to acquire a new scale, but it won’t be digital or battery operated.

Now I know I have 68 g of one bundle and 40 g of another bundle of bleached tow. Why is that important? I need (at least) three sample skeins of spun flax. Each skein must be between 1-2 ounces, which translates as 30-60 g. I’m starting with the 68 grams.

I’m not particularly worried about my bleached tow supply. I do have at least 100 g of unbleached tow. But I am planning what to do with all of the flax I have. You see there are also the dyeing requirements for Norn, and the project requirements in addition to just spinning simple skeins of various fibers. I want to be sure to have enough for everything.

Anyhow I began spinning and chose to use a drop spindle for spinning. I have three key reasons for using a drop spindle: it is easily transportable, which means I can take it with me almost anywhere and spin; it is more appropriate for the “Middle Ages”; and finally, I am spinning this single wet. I spin a section and then run it through my mouth to set the twist. I know most people use a bowl of water and wet their fingers in that. My reasons for my method are because it is more convenient and probably more historically accurate, and because Elsie Davenport claims this makes the best yarn but calls the method “quite unhygienic” (1953, p.82). In any case the yarn will be washed before other people handle it.

Davenport (1953, pp 87 and 90) also suggests winding the tow on a tow fork to keep the tow in order. While I have a tow fork, I am choosing not to use it. My choice not to use it is because I have the tow in order in a plastic bag, and because the tow fork is one more piece of equipment to carry around and it is pointed and somewhat dangerous. So I don’t want to deal with it for this skein. However, I have wound the 40 g of bleached tow onto it, and will probably use it as the distaff when I spin flax on my wheel.

I am choosing to spin the singles “s” because I have been told that flax has a natural “s” curve. Although I received this information from spinners who routinely spin flax, Irwin (2001, p.71) and Amos (2001, p. 119) confirm this. Personally, I do not see an “s” curve in the tow. Davenport makes no comment on this, though she is most thorough in all other matters.