Spinning Wheel

Oh My Gosh, Look!

                    Here is my spinning wheel!

I know what I am going to be doing this week instead of eating- fixing and figuring out how to use my new old spinning wheel! Nic and I went to the Farmer's Market in Hanau yesterday, we bought carrots and apples for juicing, lettuce starts for papa's garden, looked at hundreds of beautiful handmade baskets and as we were waiting for the bus there was a little tag sale sort of a table, everything for 5 euro (about $6.50). I saw this beauty right away and the lady thought we were looking at the box of inline roller skates next to it (who cares about inline skates anymore?) and we said no, the wheel. She said, 5 euro. I almost fell down. We asked if it worked and she said no, only for decoration. however, my eyes told me different- all parts in place except for the little hook-y things on the fly, original treadle in tact, only missing the leather connecting bits. I'll take it! 5 euro! New wheels similar to this are selling for 583 euro at ecoferme, which by the way, you should check out if you live in Europe and are interested in handmade living- they sell sheep, goats, poultry, spinning wheels, etc. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. And now, I have my old beautiful wheel for 5 euro that only needs a bit of leather and some wire hooks. And I need to find wool! I would like to find out what sort of wheel it is so I can check for parts, find replacement parts in the future, buy more spindles, etc.

In the past I have been spinning wool with  a drop spindle, which also works beautifully, and also with a small hand spindle in a gourd for cotton and silk. These work really well, and when I travel, even to the meadow, I can bring them along. However, I am looking forward to trying to use a wheel for spinning so that my foot can keep the spin while I have two hands for working the wool or whatever fiber I am working with. I would like to try to make nettle fiber and next year if i have a garden, I would like to try growing flax. Maybe after that I will try growing plants for dye. Then all I need are the sheep...which will probably take longer to acquire.

So, I have gotten the drive bands on the  wheels and figured out what kind of wheel it is, Saxony. And I think I get what all the parts are called, thanks to Joy of Hand Spinning, a fab website for folks who spin with drop spindles and spinning wheels. They have instructional videos and texts on everything from parts of a spinning wheel, to fibers, to plant dyes, to carding- all really helpful and well done.

 I have also been given a wheel by Nic's parents that some relative either found or used, no one is sure which, but it is a Castle style wheel, which means everything is all piled up vertically. Everything is in tact, but I am missing the flyer, which rests between the maidens and through the bobbins. Check out this website as well, Elizabeth's Fiber and Yarn Store for info on spinning wheels etc.

And now that I have written about spinning wheels and blackberry bushes surrounding towns, I had better include the story of Sleeping Beauty, as I am having all sorts of archetypal occurrences. Once Upon a Time...