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The Kitchen Table

Does anyone spin yarn on a spinning wheel?

12 years ago

I want to get one, and need recommendations. What I know..beginner spinner, but can use a drop spindle. Want to be able to bring it places easily. I like to spin thin yarn..was told I spin close to thread. Quite. I don't have tons of money, and would like one that I can use for a while, not outgrow. Suggestions?

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Comments (3)

pawsitive_gw
12 years ago
Yes, I spin. I have an Ashford traditional, but there are many kinds out there. Get on ravelry.com. It's free, and there is a site for buying and selling wheels, spindles, carders, drum carders, etc. Also check crags list, and most importantly of all, if you have a shop close to you, go test drive as many wheels as you can. Check your local yarn shop and put up a notice asking about wheel, lessons and all things spinning related. Being in MN there should be LOTS of people who spin! It may take a little detective work, but you won't be sorry.

I have been a spinner for more than 30 years. I spin to spin, I never have a project in mind when I start. I just love the feel of the fiber and how it runs through my fingers onto the bobbin. I try to spin a little every day, some days more than others LOL.

Good luck in your search, I hope you find what you are looking for!! Welcome to the world of spinners. Oh, and we have a spin in public day as well (don't know when it is) just like the knit in public day.
tami_ohio
12 years ago
Vickey, also go check out Knitting Paradise.com Lots of people there spin. There was a big discussion going a couple of weeks ago. I can "just" spin with a drop spindle, and have a Christmas Santa bag full of cleaned Cheviot wool to spin.

Tami
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Wool was spun on a flax wheel but flax could not be spun on a wool wheel because to spin flax, 2 hands were needed to twist and smooth the fiber and the "great wheel" had no treadle and needed one hand to turn the wheel. A wheel made mainly for flax often would have a little indentation in the wood to hold water for the spinner to moisten her fingers. Flax was a major crop in the early days of the U. S....particularly before the invention of the cotton gin. It didnt' require slave labor to grow, had a short growing season and could be grown in the northern states, unlike cotton. Linen fabric was certainly not for the rich only, what do you suppose people used for non wool fibers before the South began growing lots of cotton? The oil from the seeds was linseed oil and used in furniture finishes. Flax is a major crop today in one of the Dakotas, but mainly for the oil and seed since our recent interest in all things omega 3. A field of blooming flax is a beautiful thing. As to the wheel being unusually complete, I don't see a distaff....but the design and workmanship is beautiful. Look at those pegged fittings. Linda C
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Link: Upright-Castle-Princess? This is my spinning wheel. She is an upright or Castle style wheel with inbuilt lazy kate from Norway. Sold by Frank Herring and Sons in the UK. They would import these wheels on a very ad hoc basis from just one man named Tomasli in Norway; send him some money and six months later they would have a delivery of wheels. This was because he only made them in the winter when the fjords would close because of the snow, so he would spend his winters making spinning wheels. Unfortunately the gentleman passed in the 1980s and they were not carried since then obviously. And evidently he also sent shipments to the US where they dubbed the wheel the Norwegian Princess, whereas Frank Herring sold them as a Norwegian Upright. In 1970 when mine was bought, it was sold for £21 + £1 carriage (its written on the bottom of my wheel). In 1989 they were going for £199. They are made of pine, but he had a knack for choosing the timber and constructing the wheels in such a way that when/if the pine warped, the whole wheel did at the same time at the same rate so they will always run true. She is a superb little wheel with only two ratios in the whorl, double drive, and I have spun everything from lace to aran on her so she is really very versatile.
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Thanks for replying. The normal wash cycle works fine until it apparently stops at the final 6 min. point. So I'm not getting a final high-speed spin at the end, even tho' I've programmed it for extra spin. Drain/spin and Rinse/ spin work fine, so it isn't a problem with the spin itself; that's why the repairman thinks the electronic board that "tells the machine what to do" is malfunctioning, even tho' no error code has ever shown up. Is this likely? All I can do now is take the wet clothes out at the end, reposition, and punch in "Drain/Spin" and they are spun out fine.
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marie_ndcal
12 years ago
Check your larger craft shows. I have seen them at the one in ND occasionally.

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