The elderly lady next door lent me her spindle, a 100 years old beauty, so that I could replicate it...this is the spindle used in my part of Italy (northern Italy, Emilia Romagna) and it is a drop spindle.

It was a treasure for every girl and woman, especially in a farmers economy, where it was essential in transforming wool into garments, in a society that was quite poor and where a wheel was a luxury.

In Italian, to spin wool is said "filare" (to make thread, more or less). During the courtship, it was tradition for the young man to gift the fiancee with a spindle. In fact, when a young girl had a suitor, it was used to say that "she had a filarino" (which you could loosely translate as having a little spinning?😅).

It is a saying that is heard just from old people nowadays, because young generations have lost the tradition of spinning and spindle gifting.

But I find it so romantic ❤️

These spindles are made from walnut wood, which is a big presence around where I live.

The one on the far left is the original century old babe, the other two are the ones I made, one stained to make it look a little old (left), the other left the natural color of the wood (right).

I made a video to show you how to spin and wind yarn on this spindle: https://youtu.be/098Q8kYbT_M

Size: approx 10 inches long

Weight: approx 1 oz

Finish: shellac, beeswax

IMPORTANT: PLEASE WRITE IN THE CHECKOUT NOTE IF YOU WISH THE DARK FINISH OR THE NATURAL WOOD ONE. THANKYOU!

This is custom made for you, please allow up to 20 days for the making of the spindle.