Distaff spinning hints & tips: the half-hitch

There have been some questions recently from newbies on the Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning page, so I thought I'd do some hints and tips. This first one is about the half-hitch, a common source of concern given that many of extant medieval spindle sticks do not have a notch or hook at the tip to hold the half-hitch in place.

Here are my hints and tips as to how to get a strong, functional half-hitch in place easily every time despite using a notch-less spindle.

What did I do in 2017?

It seems like 2017 has whisked by, barely stopping on its way! It's been a rather tumultuous one for me, with crazy job commitments, career changes and health problems meaning I haven't done anywhere near as much historical crafting as I would have liked. However, there have been a couple of things that I have managed, although several of these haven't featured on this blog.

So, to focus on the positives, without further ado, here is my 2017 of crafting.