You have retted, broken, and scutched your homegrown flax. The fibres are free from the woody shives, but they are still a tangled nest of long strands, short bits, and dust. Hackling is the step that turns that rough bundle into something a handspinner can actually draft. It is also where you decide whether you are making fine line linen or sturdy tow for rugs and bags.

Why Hackling Matters

Hackling does two jobs at once. It combs out the short fibres, the neps, and the last of the boon, and it aligns the remaining long fibres parallel to each other. The result is a smooth, glossy strick of line flax. The stuff that comes out in the comb is tow: shorter, coarser, and full of little tangles. Neither is waste. Line flax spins into fine, strong yarn for clothing and table linens. Tow spins into a rougher yarn that is perfect for household textiles, bags, or a textured warp. If you skip hackling, you will fight your fibre every time you sit at the wheel.

Setting Up Your Hackle

A hackle is a bed of steel pins set into a board. You need at least two grades: a coarse hackle with wider spacing and thicker pins for the first passes, and a finer hackle with closer, thinner pins for the final smoothing. Many spinners mount their hackles on a sturdy bench or a dedicated post at waist height. The pins should point away from you, and the hackle should not wobble. A clamp or a vice is your friend here. Keep a leather glove or a thick pad nearby for your holding hand, because those pins are sharp. Work in a well-ventilated space, and put a sheet or a tarp under the hackle to catch the tow as it falls.

The Hackling Sequence

Take a handful of scutched flax. Hold it firmly near one end, with the rest hanging down. Draw the fibre through the coarse hackle, pulling towards you in a smooth, steady motion. Do not yank. Turn the bundle a quarter turn and pull it through again. Repeat until the fibres are combed out and the short bits have fallen away. You will see the flax change from a matted clump to a shining ribbon.

Now switch to the finer hackle. Work through the same sequence: pull, turn, pull, turn. Start with the end you held first, then reverse the bundle and hackle the other end. The aim is to have every fibre running parallel, with no lumps or crossed strands. As you work, you can separate the bundle into smaller and smaller sections. This is called splitting the strick. The finer you split, the easier it is to draft later.

• Keep the rhythm steady. A smooth pull gives a cleaner comb.
• Work from coarse to fine. Never start with the fine hackle.
• Turn the bundle often. This stops you from combing only one side.
• Save every scrap of tow. It goes into its own basket for later.

Reading the Fibres: Line and Tow

When the fibre pulls through the fine hackle with almost no resistance, and it shines like a ribbon of silk, it is ready. That is line flax. You can tell it is done when you hold it up and the light catches the length of the fibres, not a fuzzy halo. The tow that has fallen through the pins is a mix of short fibres, neps, and bits of shive. Pick out any obvious woody pieces, then card the rest into fluffy rolags. Tow yarn is lumpy and warm, and it softens beautifully with washing.

Some spinners hackle twice: once with a coarse hackle, then again with a medium, then a fine. Others use just two. The important thing is to stop when the fibre is smooth and parallel. Over-hackling can weaken the flax, so pay attention to the feel. It should be supple, not brittle.

From Hackle to Roving

Line flax straight from the hackle is called a strick. To make a roving, you need to draft it down. You can use a diz: a small disc with a hole in the centre. Pass a handful of hacked line through the hole, then pull gently. The fibre comes out as a smooth, even rope. Keep your hands relaxed and let the fibres slide past each other. If the roving breaks, you are pulling too hard or the fibres are still too tangled. Go back to the hackle for another pass.

You can store rovings in loose coils or around a nostepinne. Do not wind them tightly, because flax has little elasticity and can crease. A clean tea towel over the basket keeps dust off. If you plan to dye the fibre, this is a good stage: rovings take up natural dyes evenly, and you can see the colour develop on the clean, parallel fibre.

Natural Dyeing Notes for Homegrown Linen

Flax is a cellulose fibre, so it needs different mordants from wool. Alum is the usual choice, often with a little cream of tartar. For deeper shades, use tannin first: gallnut, oak bark, or even a strong tea bath. Madder, weld, woad, and onion skins all work well on linen. Dye your rovings, your spun yarn, or your finished cloth. Rovings give the most even colour, but they can felt if you move them too much in a hot pot. Keep the temperature below a simmer and stir gently.

Hackling is not a chore to rush. It is a conversation with your fibre. Each pull of the hackle tells you how the flax was retted, how it was grown, and how it wants to be spun. Take your time, save your tow, and enjoy the transformation from rough straw to smooth roving.