The liaghra was a tool used in Scottish knitting, especially in the north west, and Argyll. It had various regional names, and is sometimes known in English as a thread winder.

It consisted of two sticks crossed together in the centre and set on a swivel pin in a block of wood called the stoc. A pin of wood is fixed in each of the four extremities of the sticks, and round thus, a hank of thread is placed, which is unravelled and made into a ball, as the operator spins the instrument round.

Regional names

• Crann tachrais – Various

• Na Sgiathan (the wings) – Caithness

• Bodach-sgiathan (Old man of the wings) – Sutherland

• Eachan (Horsie) – Argyll

• Crois-lionradh – Lewis

References