The origins of the spinning wheel remain unsure, but the machine is thought to have been invented around 700 in India, where it was used to turn fibers into thread or yarn that were then woven into cloth. Earlier hand-spinning methods were superseded by mounting the spindle horizontally and rotating it by slowly turning a large wheel with the right hand. The fiber was held at an angle in the operator's left hand to produce the necessary twist.
The spinning wheel reached Europe in the Middle Ages, becoming part of a cottage industry that used simple hand-operated tools. It persisted in this context until the eighteenth century.
In Britain the new cotton industry was modeled on the old woolen cloth industry. The most complicated apparatus was the loom, worked by a single weaver and normally kept in an upstairs room where a window provided natural light. The weavers were usually men who used yarn produced by a number of women, known as "spinsters," who did the spinning. With the advent of waterpower, this early cottage industry eventually grew into a large-scale factory operation. In 1733 John Kay invented the flying shuttle that enabled the weaving process to become faster, and the Industrial Revolution saw the process become increasingly mechanized.
Modern spinning wheels use electrical and mechanical means to rotate the spindle, automatic methods to draw out fibers, and devices to work many spindles together at high speeds. Other technologies that offer faster yarn production include friction spinning and air jets.
