Saint Distaff’s Day
PARTLY work and partly play
You must on St. Distaff’s Day:
From the plough soon free your team;
Then come home and fother them;
If the maids a-spinning go,
Burn the flax and fire the tow.
Bring in pails of water then,
Let the maids bewash the men.
Give St. Distaff all the right;
Then bid Christmas sport good night,
And next morrow every one
To his own vocation.
~ Robert Herrick January 7th is known as Saint Distaff’s Day, but there isn’t really a saint or person associated with this day. Traditionally it falls on the day after the Twelfth Day of Christmas, it was back when women would go back to their spinning after the Christmas break.
The perfect little tool to help you hold more fibre while spinning.
So you might ask: What is a distaff? Distaff is a piece of equipment that allows you to hold more fibre while spinning. You may have seen pictures of bygone days where a person holds a long staff tucked under one arm and the staff has a blob of fibre wrapped at the top end; or you might have seen an old spinning wheel that has an attachment next to/on the mother-of-all, that is for holding a generous amount of flax for spinning linen yarn/thread. In fact, any number of things can be called a distaff, essentially it is a fibre management tool for spinners, even a knitted or crochet cuff worn on a wrist can be used as a distaff.
I made a short video showing you how I dress the ring distaff.
(please excuse the quality of the video, I’m still learning how to film and edit on my own)
I often use the ring distaff spinning on the wheel as it really allows me to hold more fibre.
Do you use a distaff? If you do which is your preferred style?
