Drafting Techniques For Handspinners

When I was recently a mentor at SOAR (Spin-Off Autumn Retreat), a topic came up in conversation, most probably around the dining table one evening, that piqued my interest: the various drafting techniques in handspinning. Somewhere in the discussion it was said that there are 6, main drafting techniques to choose from. This got me thinking about what these were:

1. Short, forward draw. A two-handed draw. Front hand pinches at the point-of-contact, drawing fiber out of the fiber supply which is held in the back hand. The front hand keeps twist from ever entering or locking into the fiber supply (if a worsted-style yarn is desired) but does allow twist to enter the drafted fiber, thus becoming yarn. The front hand is responsible for allowing the yarn to move towards the orifice and eventually onto the bobbin for storage. Note: I say "eventually" because many of us who use the shorter draws don't want to be on top of the orifice in "inch worm" style (or as I heard Maggie once say, "shoving the yarn up the orifice!), and instead are sitting comfortably back in our chairs. Therefore, whilst the draw is short (anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 of a staple length of fiber per draft), it may not actually go onto the bobbin immediately. Once a draft's worth of yarn is moved forward towards the orifice, the front hand slides to the next point of contact and repeats above. The back hand remains stationary, holding the fiber supply and insuring the fibers are slipping past each other as they are drawn out by the front hand.

2. Short, backward draw. A two-handed draw. A "sister" draft to the short, forward draw. The front hand again pinches at the point-of-contact, giving the back hand something to tug against if needed. The back hand, which holds the fiber supply, draws (or thins) the amount of fibers chosen for the size of yarn chosen, moving backwards as it does so. The front hand's pinch opens in order to allow twist to enter these newly drafted fibers. The back hand moves forward to allow the draft's worth of spun yarn to head towards the orifice and eventually be stored on the bobbin. The front hand moves to the new point-of-contact and all is repeated above.

3. American, supported longdraw. "American" is the name I've been using to distinguish this draw from the English longdraw. "Supported" means it's two-handed. The back hand holds the fiber supply. The front hand remains stationary, opening and closing its pinch as needed on spun yarn, up near (but not necessarily right next to) the orifice. "Longdraw" means that more than a staple length (or partial staple length) of fiber is drawn out with the back hand before allowing the length of just-spun yarn to go through the orifice and onto the bobbin. In other words, it is the back hand's job to move forward, making sure the length of just-spun yarn gets stored onto the bobbin.

4. American, sliding, supported longdraw. Again, two -handed. "Sliding" because the front hand slides (and pinches at the point-of-contact, as needed) in order to allow short draws of fiber to occur over the longer length of the just-being-made spun yarn, prior to letting it get stored on the bobbin. I believe this is the draw, so often seen at gatherings and guilds of U.S. spinners, that got the not-so-nice name of "short draw at a distance". Note that the main difference with this draw and #3 is that the front hand is not stationary, but moves to the new point-of-contacts over the length of yarn.

5. American longdraw, unsupported. A one-handed draw. The back hand holds the fiber supply. Think of the twist being inserted as a train moving towards the back hand. The point-of-contact has to stay just ahead of the oncoming twist. If the point-of-contact moves too fast forward, the yarn breaks because there's not enough twist in the length to make it stable. If the point-of-contact moves too slow, twist jumps and locks into the fiber supply and it becomes impossible to draft. Needless to say, this drafting technique works best with superbly prepared fibers, where the fibers slip past each other with no effort. I tend to like using this draft with shortish fibers carded into a well-prepared rolag. Also, from the "driver control" end of things, if the spinner's back hand is not allowing the fibers to draw out easily, it then becomes difficult to make a consistently sized yarn.

NOTE: #3-5 all fall into a category called "point-of-contact" draws.

6. English longdraw. Also called "double drafting". This is a whole 'nother ballgame from what the Americans call a longdraw. To be on the safe side, I'll quote Mabel Ross in her book, "The Encyclopedia of Hand Spinning," Interweave Press, Colorado, 1988. "The traditional term in Europe for the method used to spin a woollen-spun yarn from a carded rolag."

Mabel goes on to say, "The technique consists of having a little twist in the short length of yarn between the orifice and its adjacent hand, then allowing this twist to enter the drafting fibres at the same moment as a sizeable portion of the rolag (sufficient to make an arm's length of yarn) is begun to be drawn out between the orifice hand (which intermittently permits small amounts of twist past it) and the hand holding the rolag firmly. The latter hand should never release more fibres throughout each cycle; rather it should hold a twisted portion of yarn to ensure sufficient, though moderate, tension between the hands, to complete the process of making the yarn even."

Mabel notes, "The control of thickness of this yarn is purely a matter of timing of the start of the draw."

And finally, Mabel says, "The technique is also called 'spindle drafting', and is one which is ideally adapted to the rapid spinning of short fibres into a very elastic, warm, spongy, fuzzy (but not hairy) yarn, quite different in structure from a worsted yarn. The same method can be used for cotton.

7. American forward longdraw. Yes, I'll add a 7th drafting technique that I had read about in a past Spin-Off issue (Summer 1990) and one that I've occasionally used. The technique was described by Patricia Emerick in her article, "An Alpaca Sweater For My Smaller Son." It's an adaptation of a technique Patricia learned from Allen Fannin. Patricia descibes it as follows, "The back hand lightly holds the fiber supply several inches back from the point where the twist catches the fibers. With the thumb and first two fingers of the forward hand, grasp the last bit of formed yarn, from its top side, and begin to pull towards the orifice. The forward hand allows most of the twist to go through, and pulls fibers from the supply in the back hand. While drafting towards the orifice, the forward hand's thumb and two fingers lightly rotate in the same direction of the twist that is entering the yarn. The forward hand moves about a foot towards the orifice, then moves back to begin the next draft."

Patricia goes on to say, "You need to pull the fibers forward at the same rate as the twist enters; the technique is sort of a reverse long draw." Patricia also mentions that having well-prepared fibers are important when using this draw.

The above photos are both from when I worked as a historical interpreter at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto, Canada. See My Early Natural Dyeing Adventures & Brighid's Dyers and A Canadian Indigo Urine Vat Story for more on BCPV. In Second House (which I didn't work in regularly), the second oldest house on its original site, I got to spin at the Great Wheel. Though my yarn is obscured by the sunlight streaming from the window, I seem to be practicing some version of a longdraw. I say this because I can't actually remember if I was using the English longdraw or an American longdraw, unsupported. There were no longdraw police saying I must do one or the other, if I remember correctly.

In First House, the oldest house on its original site at Black Creek, I'm shown spinning at an 1850's Saxony wheel. I know I was using one of the short draws, probably after carding some of the village's white, Border Leicester wool and rolling it across the carder into a cigar.

As spinners, we often mix and match techniques, don't we? We aim to make a yarn that pleases us and is useful in whatever we choose to use it in. This is not wrong. It simply exercises our rights as thinking human beings to "pull out of the hat" whatever techniques we've learned that are helpful to make the yarn we choose to spin. Please remember this whenever someone says you're "not doing that right." If you're not hurting your body or damaging equipment, then anything's game in my book.

In the comment section, please feel free to add or subtract (if you have have issue with...) from these definitions of drafting techniques. I'm particularly interested to see if the definitions make sense to you.
Thanks.