“A wrap reel or skein winder was a device for measuring yarn and making it into hanks of wool at a standard size, weight, and strength (a skein or lea). The standard length for wool would be 80 yards, though in the 18th century there were regional variations. In the 1760s, Yorkshire wool manufacturers formed a private association funded by subscription to pay the costs of prosecutions and for two inspectors to prevent short and false reeling by their workers. By 1778, the master wool combers and yarn spinners of East Anglia adopted the Yorkshire rules and set up their own Association. Wool spinning was mostly carried out by women in their own homes who, across Norfolk worked for masters supplying the Norwich weaving industry. Short reeling in East Anglia continued until the end of the 18th century when the mechanisation of production in Yorkshire made the wool trade in Norfolk and Suffolk immaterial.”
Skein Winder
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