Spinning with a Portuguese spindle

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. Nothing too complex, just a simple collection of different ladies I have encountered through my learning process and research, spinning with the type of spindle that is more commonly found in Portugal, but unusual in other countries. My idea is just to show you some similarities and differences present in their techniques.
A few weeks ago, Josefin received one of my portuguese spindles and this prompted several pertinent questions about the spinning technique for this specific spindle and this made me finally publish these videos.
First off, I would just like to leave two notes:

- In Portugal, both in wool and flax spinning, the distaff is almost always used to hold the fibres. It is not common to find people spinning without a distaff, but there are some.

- The spindle can either be always held in hand or used in suspension, although for short bursts only. To be possible for it to be used in suspension it depends on the quality of the spindle (mostly on having a very good carved groove on the tip, like mine do), on the mastery of the spinner and the type of yarn you're spinning. It also depends on personal preferences, as we will see in the videos below. The groove on the tip is so important that it even has its own word in portuguese: "mainça".
Let's get started:

In this video of Adelaide spinning flax that I recorded in Corredoura (Guimarães) back in 2013 we see the most common technique. The left hand drafts the fibers from the distaff, while the right hand spins the spindle. If you look closely, Adelaide's spindle hand slightly opens to let the spindle turn freely, almost suspended. This allows the spindle to turn faster, of course.

Another example of a very traditional technique is Benta's. Although she is spinning wool, the technique is similar to Adelaide's, in the first video.
Unfortunately, Benta is no longer among us, but she keeps being a solid presence in the memory of those that had the privilege to meet her. She was one of the most interesting people I have ever met and from whom I gleaned a lot of precious knowledge. You can see more videos of Benta right here: #01, #02, #03, #04, #05, #06 and #07.

And here we have Ilídia, my dear friend and teacher, with whom I was SO lucky to be initiated in this wonderful world of wool and spinning. Watching her work always leaves me mesmerized, no matter how many times I've seen it. I recorded this little video last September and in it you can see her production spinning. This means she's spinning yarn to sell and not to pass time, as you can tell by the speed of her spinning and the size of that cop. Her spindle is about 45cm tall and my spindles were inspired in this model.
As you can see, she does spin in suspension. Do you know why? Because her spindles have a perfect groove on the tip. And she makes sure they have a good groove because she does not have time to waste. A good enough spindle does not cut it with Ilídia, and this is something that I have learned with her.

And then we have my friend Tita Costa. Tita learned to spin from a lady from the Douro region that was a friend of the family. The spindle she's using, which is absolutely amazing, has a brass tip with an exquisitely carved groove. The spindle belonged to the lady that taught her, so it had spun a lot before it got to Tita's hands.
The technique Tita learned and uses does not include a distaff and the spindle never leaves the hand, because it is never used in suspension. That clicking sound you hear is the yarn jumping from the groove as it twists. Tita says that is "the spindle singing".
In reality, her spindle as such a good groove that it allows her to spin in suspension, but she doesn't do it because she wasn't taught that way.
I own several spindles, all antiques, but only one has the same quality as Tita's and that's my favourite spindle to date to work with. I have tried unsuccessfully to replicate with the same quality and the ones that I find for sale are more suitable for reenactments than actual spinning.
Usually, the spindles with the metal tip were used to spin flax, but you can perfectly spin other fibres with it.

Before signing off, I'm going to leave you with Fátima spinning with a... broom stick!
I believe what we really need to know is that there is no wrong and right technique, only the one that does the job and makes us feel comfortable and productive.