twisting hay, twisting yarn

First he twisted the long strand as far as his two hands could do it. Then he put the right-hand end of it under his left elbow and held it there, tight against his side, so that it could not untwist. Then his right hand took the other end from his left hand. His left hand slid down as near as it could get to the end under his left elbow and took hold of it. Pa twisted the strand again. This time he put its other end under his left elbow. He repeated these motions, again and again and again, till the whole strand of hay was twisted tight and kinking in the middle. Each time he twisted and tucked the end under his arm, the right twist coiled around itself.

When the whole length of the twist had wound itself tight, Pa bent the ends of hay together and tucked them into the last kink. He dropped the hard stick of hay on the floor... --The Long Winter, Chapter 19, "Where There's a Will"

As I was twisting reclaimed yarn (from an old wool sweater I unraveled) into a skein today, I was reminded again of how twisting hay is done in exactly the same way as twisting a skein of yarn. Yarn is wrapped either on a warping board or between two stationery pegs or nails, usually about three feet apart. Grab each end and twist in opposite directions. The yarn will kink in the middle and twist around itself. When it is completely twisted, you pull apart one of the sections and push the other end through it.

While it's obvious that Charles Ingalls didn't invent the hay twist, it's just as certain that Laura Ingalls must have seen skeins of yarn and have noticed the similarities in hay and yarn twists. And I bet she used reclaimed yarn a time or two as well.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:41 AM