Silk body Straw-coloured (pale yellow) Pearsall's Gossamer silk (full length of shank)
Hackle Small blue-grey feather from a jay (or golden plover breast) (1 feather)
How to tie it
Start the silk behind the eye and run smooth touching turns back to a point above the barb, then return two-thirds of the way to the eye. Traditional North Country spiders are deliberately sparse, so keep the underbody to a single even layer.
Wax the straw silk lightly and wind it forward again to form a slim body that fills the rear two-thirds of the shank, leaving room at the head.
Prepare the jay hackle by stroking the fibres back and stripping the fluffy base. Tie it in by the tip just behind the eye.
Take only 1.5 to 2 turns of hackle (a spider wants a wisp of leg movement, not a dense collar) then secure and clip the surplus stem.
Stroke the fibres rearward, build a tiny head, whip finish and add a spot of varnish.