Hand spinning on these types of wheels, both hands are free (since the wheel is turned with a treadle, rather than by hand), so the spinner can use one hand to draft the fibres and the other to wet them. Modern powered spinning, originally done by water or steam power but now done by electricity, is vastly faster than hand-spinning. The spinning jenny, a multi-spool spinning wheel invented c. 1764 by James Hargreaves, dramatically reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn of high consistency, with a single worker able to work eight or more spools at once. At roughly the
Spinning wheel of every spin of her Charkha. Spinning wheels also feature prominently in the Wagner opera "The Flying Dutchman"; the second act begins with local girls sitting at their wheels and singing about the act of spinning. Spinning wheels may be found as motifs in art around the world, ranging from their status as domestic/utilitarian items to their more symbolic role (such as in India, where they may have political implications). Spinning wheel A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibres. Spinning wheels were first used in India, between 500 and 1000 A.D.