Talk:Distaff

Confusing

I find the description of Russian distaffs confusing. In the picture, they look like large, rectangular ping-pong paddles. I don't see anything L-shaped, or horizontal. I also don't understand "inner" surface, and exactly what part the user sat on. 208.54.85.223 (talk) 20:59, 16 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think I've figured it out. The illustration shows the distaffs displayed on shelves, in the position in which they'd be used, with the dontses flat upon the shelves, which can be seen most clearly in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. It's the dontses which are the lower legs of the L, and I'd overlooked them when I first saw the picture. The side of the paddle towards the user, the side towards which the dontse projects, is the one referred to as "inner", because it faces towards the person doing the spinning. I'm not sure how to reword the description to make it clearer. 172.56.27.39 (talk) 21:13, 16 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]