I tied the repaired footman on, watched a video on how to put on a drive band for a double drive wheel, et voila! The wheel spins very nicely. I’m working on adjusting the takeup for the sweet spot, as I’ve never used a double drive wheel before. A little Read more…
Updated 9/14/24 after reading the Fall 2024 issue of Spin-Off magazine. There are articles on several historical spinning methods in it, including ancient Greece and medieval Europe. In my last Handspinning Technology post, I talked about spinning wheels. This time, let’s talk about spindles. A lot has been written about Read more…
Links to previous posts in this series: part one and part two. Holy crap it’s so much prettier after a good scrubbing with Murphy’s Oil Soap, followed by a rubdown with tung oil. (Tung is what the makers of the wheel would have used to condition the wood.) Here are Read more…
I saw Nick Cave last night in Atlanta, on his solo tour. (He did have a bassist accompanying him on some tracks, but it was mostly him and a piano.) It was amazing and wonderful. I’d always wanted to see him live, but never had the chance before. The thing Read more…
As I think I’ve mentioned before, I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books as a child. I first read them when I was five, and reread them frequently until I was around nine. My paternal grandmother even made me a rag doll like Charlotte, Laura’s doll. I Read more…
I’m doing a talk today for my Historical Textiles group, and I wanted to assemble some pictures and info about spinning wheels from different time periods…. The first European spinning wheel was the walking wheel. It was hand-operated, and the yarn went onto a pointy spindle. When the Sleeping Beauty Read more…
If you missed the first post about the antique JOS spinning wheel, please check it out. Today I met with a man I’ll call Dr. Wood, because he’s a retired professor who’s become a professional woodworker. He’s making me very happy. He’s fixing the broken footman for free, and I’ll Read more…
Updated 10/18/23 to add trip details (at the bottom of the post) My mother, my oldest nephew, my nephew’s boyfriend, and I went to New Orleans for a long weekend. We left Florida on Friday, October 13th, and came back on Monday the 16th. I went on a tour of Read more…
I was gifted an antique spinning wheel today. It was a family heirloom from the 1800s, and the giver was a woman in her seventies who wanted the wheel to go to someone who would use it. Thanks to some antique wheel enthusiasts, I was able to discover some information Read more…
The other day I asked the Handweavers Guild of America on Facebook about queer/trans weavers they’ve had on their weekly Textiles and Tea program (broadcast live on Facebook every Tuesday at 4pm ET, then uploaded to their YouTube channel the week after). They were kind enough to reply with a Read more…