To inspire us all to spin...
Boston News-Letter and New-England Chronicle February 16, 1769
NEW-LONDON January 7.
On the 16th Instant; the Wife of Mr. John Vaughan of Lebanon, agreed upon a spinning Match with a neighboring young Woman; they began their Work three quarters of an Hour after Sunrise, and left off at Nine o’Clock in the Evening of the same Day; in which Time Mrs. Vaughan spun seven Skeins and two Knots of fine Linnen Yarn, each Skein containing 15 Knots; The other Person spun 6 Skeins and 10 Knots, the Skeins of equal Bigness with the first mentioned.—[Would the Sex in general apply their Hands to the Distaff, instead of the idle Apparatus of the Tea-Table, perhaps we need not always be beholden to Asia for our Food, or Europe for our Cloathing.]
How much is that? A thread of linen is 2.25 yards and a knot is 40 threads. A skein may contain any number of knots just like a modern skein may contain any number of ounces. So a skein containing 15 knots has 1350 yards (I think-math isn't my strong point even with a calculator)
We may not get that much spun on Sunday since the spinning matches of the 1760s lasted from dawn to dusk and we'll only be spinning from 1-5.
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