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One of many valuable lessons learned from Judith MacKenzie

Sep 7, 2011 by Amy Clarke Moore

Judith MacKenzie sharing the majesty of her new home—on the windswept shores of the north Pacific Ocean.

Judith (right) with one of her early pieces of  knitted handspinning. Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa (left) purchased the piece when she took spinning classes with Judith some twenty-five years ago.

Keeping left and right straight in spinning

I've always had a hard time with left and right. You know the trick where you hold up your hands and make an L with your index finger and thumb on your left hand to tell the difference between your left and right hand? Well, to me they look the same—I really have to think about it to see the difference. If someone gives me directions, I'm much better off if they tell me to go north or south on a certain street rather than to turn right or left. And like many beginners, I had a couple skeins when I first started spinning that I spun counterclockwise and then couldn't figure out why plying wasn't working. My attempt to make yarn had turned into a jumbled, stringy mess. Eventually, I figured it out and paid closer attention to the direction I was spinning my yarn so that I'd get the results I wanted.

Since nearly everyone around me seems not to have this same problem with right and left as I do, I figured it was just a funny little quirk in my brain. However, recently when I was reviewing some of the footage I shot while I was taking Judith MacKenzie's workshop "Tribal Textile Treasures" in Forks, Washington, in April this year, Judith mentioned that a lot of spinners have trouble with right and left as well as Z-twist and S-twist yarns. Suddenly, I didn't feel like such an odd duck. Judith mentioned that a lot of the spinners she knows have little tricks for remembering how to insert the twist they want into the yarn—because as we all know, Z-twist and S-twist yarns react very differently when knitted, crocheted, or woven into a project. One trick she mentioned for thigh spinning in this video clip, is that when you move your right hand toward your heart (up your leg from your knee to your hip) you're introducing a clockwise twist into your yarn (also known as Z-twist), and when you move your right hand away from your heart (down your leg from your hip to your knee), you're introducing a counterclockwise twist or S-twist.

How do you keep track of the direction you spin your yarn? Do you have any little tricks or funny stories you'd like to share?

Happy spinning,

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dsousa wrote
on Sep 7, 2011 6:59 PM

I also have trouble with left and right. when I spin (usually on a wheel only occasionally on spindle) I think in terms of the wheel turning clockwise to spin and counterclockwise to ply, this prevents me from making a mess of things.. I can never tell the difference between z and s twist.

spinninguru wrote
on Sep 7, 2011 8:45 PM

Having the initials P S Z, I offer this hint to my students.  Think of how your hand moves when you BEGIN to print a big letter Z, your hand moves to the right the same direction we read, and the same as the hands on an old fashioned clock.   So when you start the drive wheel the same way as you start the letter Z, moving to the right you are making Z twist.  Z twist, right hand twist, and the wheel or spindle going clockwise are all describing the same direction.

Furthermore, if a fiber is standing straight up and pushed forward by your hand (starting that letter Z) you have the forward slash / and a visual of the slant you look for when trying to identify twist in a singles that is already spun.

Fortunately, it also holds that if you BEGIN to print a large letter S, your hand moves to the left, backwards to reading and clock hands, so it is  counterclockwise.  When you start the wheel by moving it to the left, like the start of the letter S, you are making S twist, left hand twist, and counterclockwise twist.

And the other good news is if a fiber is standing straight up and your hand pushes the top (as you start that letter S) you have the back(ward) slash \ and the slant you will see on S spun fibers.

Incidentally, for me knowing the spinning S & Z was the only way I could tell a forward slash from a back slash when doing computer addresses.

Patsy Sue Zawistoski

bronwyndp wrote
on Sep 7, 2011 8:46 PM

I don't typically have issues remembering right and left, but I learned a silly little riddle when I was a kid that I think of every time I put on socks, shoes, or pants or have to do something on both sides.  The riddle went something like, "Which shoe to you put on first?  The right one because the other one is always left."  I know.  Silly.  This could help, I suppose, in remembering which way to spin the singles and then ply.  You spin to the right first and then ply to the left because that's what you have left to do.

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