Month: October 2007

labor of love = it’s a wheel!

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10

10 oct 2 (2)

Originally uploaded by purlingswine

Do you see it? all shiny and old/new?

This wheel was among some antiques being sold at the Pickle Festival on Sunday. One of the historical society members had it for sale, but it was covered in dirt, has only one bobbin and I wasn’t completely convinced it would work.

My friend Flair helped me to negotiate a sweet deal and I brought it home. I have spent yesterday and today cleaning it up.

I first gave it a bath with Murphy’s. Then I put two coats of butcher’s wax. It is a Canadian production wheel with a cast iron treadle and a clamp for tensioning (can you tell I did a bit of Internet research as well?). So I thought I would put some Linseed oil on the metal parts.

I could not get the cap off the Linseed oil and I grabbed some peanut oil out of my pantry. Well, it made the metal look so nice that I rubbed it into the entire wheel.

I should have just coated it with peanut butter because now Mr. Poe keeps licking it!!

Anyway, it cleaned up beautifully (check out the Flickr pages for some before shots) and it is going to work. I just need some advice on the double drive situation. It seems that the bobbin and flyer are spinning at the exact same rate and the yarn is not being pulled onto the bobbin as a result. I did find a cotton string for the drive band, but that did not do the trick. I wonder if I have too much oil on it and it’s simply too slippery ?

anyway, guild is in two weeks and it just so happens that the topic will be equipment! I am sure that someone there will be able to get me on the right track. For now I will have to be content to simply stare at it!

Spin Out

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9

 

these pictures should say it all – Spin Out was fantastic in every way! The weather was sheer perfection! The location was gorgeous! The bathrooms were close by! The spinners were Fun & Fascinating! It truly was a perfect day. lots of exclamation points!!!

I picked up Martha (fellow guild member and spinner extraordinaire), at the train station and we headed into the city. This was a major step for me since I have a fear of city driving. Well, those days are over! I drove in with no problem at all and found a very conveniently located parking garage. We got to the site in Central Park at 10 to set up. Cara brought bagels! Before we knew it all of the spinners began to arrive and from there it was a whirl of gabbing, laughing and spinning! Truly the day just flew by. The carriage horses and pedi-cabs come to see the spectacular view from this site so we had a constant parade of people. There was music in the distance providing a nice audio background. What more could we ask for? I walked through my door at 7:30 pm – exhausted but happy.

I bet you want to know who was there — I am terrible at this and will leave people out for sure. Cara had a sign up sheet so perhaps she will provide a link-fest for us. In the meantime, I was yucking it up with Nancy, Maribel, Chante, Peggie, Annie, Jenny, Regina, John, Kay, Melissa, Amy, Jenna, Martha, Carrie …… I know there were lots more. And now I feel badly. I hope you all are happy – see what you’ve done!

Anyway, there are more pictures to see over at my Flickr account. Today I will be performing a labor of love with potential for fabulous dividends ….. stay tuned for more details, all will be revealed my pets!