Round and Round
Back when I still lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, there was a marvelous shop on Columbus Avenue called The Last Wound-Up. (All New Yorkers from a certain era, stand by for collective sigh. Ready? With me, on three. One. Two. Three. SI-I-I-I-I-IGH. Thank you.) The gradual disappearance of whimsical shops like that one has gone a long way toward mitigating any regret I may ever have felt for moving out of what was after all my original home town.
The Last Wound-Up sold… wind-up toys. Nothing else. Just every imaginable kind of wind-up toy. Boats and whales and sea-monsters for your bath. Little sideways-scuttling crabs. Tiny lurching hulking Godzillas to drive your cat insane with uncertainty. And of course… spinning tops.
On their bags and business cards, in their window, all over the walls of the shop, this motto was prominently displayed:
DON’T POSTPONE JOY!
This package arrived here today - sooner than expected - all the way from Holland:
Yup. Mai spinninz weel, let me sho u it.
Actually, first let me get it unpacked and set up.
No picture or description can possibly do justice to the care - and originality - with which this thing was secured for transit. It gives new meaning to the phrase “within an inch of its life.”
Naturally, some assembly required - but it wasn’t difficult, and there’s nothing like putting this sort of thing together to give you an insight into how the mechanism works. Actually having to put the pieces into place is an excellent shortcut toward understanding which ones belong where and why.
So here it is:
It’s a Romney castle wheel, built in New Zealand at least 23 years ago (that’s when they shut up shop, I gather, and more I do not know on the subject; if you do, I would welcome any further info!). Single treadle, single drive, Scotch tension. Not, as the seller rightly says, a beginner’s wheel - but then, I don’t aim to stay a beginner for long.
Please observe the 18th-century milking stool in the foreground. What better spinning chair?
Note also…
… the sweet built-in lazy-kate. As well as…
… the matching orifice hook, stored in its own little “orifice” when not in use.
Over and above its beauty and practicality, there’s a primitive simplicity about the whole thing that completely charms me. I’ve looked at some of the fancy new wheels out there now, and they are very impressive indeed… but they seem to require high-tech components that I find a bit intimidating. Apparently they use specialized drive bands and I don’t know what-all. The drive band on this? A piece of string. The bobbin tensioner? Ditto, with a knotted rubber band on one end to give it spring. If either of them breaks it can be replaced out of the kitchen junk drawer. I can’t tell you how this appeals to me.
My car is a 1990 Honda, standard shift, no power steering, no air conditioning, no mod cons whatsoever.
My microwave oven dates to 1980; it doesn’t have a control panel or dedicated settings for defrosting precisely one and a half servings of quiche - just two mechanical dials, one for how strong and one for how long.
My sewing machine is a 1939 Singer Featherweight; it doesn’t do zig-zag and it doesn’t do buttonholes - it goes forward and back like a champ, and that’s all it does and all it needs to do.
I’m still in mourning for the DOS computer of yesteryear.
Somehow… I think I’m really going to like this wheel.
I suppose if it were an Ashford Joy it would play better into the “Don’t Postpone Joy” thing. But not even for the sake of the joke….
Seriously, though, I think it was largely that notion of not postponing joy, of seizing the day, that suddenly precipitated me over the edge into spinning as soon as the first tools actually came to my hands. It just flashed on me - so many fibers, so little time. So much to learn, and just what the hell was I waiting for? Life is too short.
Is anybody surprised that I put in a bid on a wheel within two days of my first spindling?
I’m not.
I’m also not surprised that I bought the wheel I did. I had planned, of course, to follow the conventional wisdom: audition a lot of wheels, learn everything I can about their various features and how to use them, take my time, gain some experience, make an educated decision. Instead… I saw this and wanted it and went with my gut. Boom. Set a price ceiling and told myself that if the bid was high enough it was meant to be. The bid was more than high enough, and the rest is history.
In one respect at any rate I followed the sage advice I’ve been given: I spent some time today treadling my little heart out, and I foresee more of that ahead - a lot more. I’m feeling my way, and definitely getting a feel for it - now all I gotta do is practice practice practice. Carnegie Hall is out there somewhere.
And to those of you who have declared me a mutant freak, proposed to burn me as a witch, averred that I must have sold my soul to the devil, etc. - as well as to those who have said kind and encouraging things about my early singles - I have two things to say.
- Talent? Yeah, whatever - I dunno. Sure, I have some natural aptitude for this sort of thing, always did. But there is something happening here that I can’t quite explain. From the moment I first started to feel the twist I had the oddest sense that this was something I had done before - frequently, habitually. On the face of it, all this spinning stuff is new to me - the individual fibers and their behaviors certainly are - but the actual doing of it seemed to come to me not so much with the ease of the quick learner as with the comfort of long practice. I’m telling you, my hands knew things I didn’t, and they can spin better than my mind can; if you could ask them they would probably tell you where and how they have done this in the past. I don’t have experience, but they do. Did I spin in another life? Or am I drawing on some kind of deep tribal memory? I don’t know exactly what I believe about these things, so I don’t have the answer and I don’t know if there is one. I just know that something is going on, between me and the fibers, that is beyond my normal comprehension. Cue Twilight Zone theme.
- Behold my comeuppance for those preternaturally fine and even spindle singles:
Ahhhhhh… that’s more like it. Nice crappy first-time beginner singles. Right? Overtwist alternating with breakage. Fat slubs that clog the orifice. And I trust you’ll have noticed that there is not a penny to be seen within a 10-foot radius of this bobbin. Either I never had a wheel in that hypothetical other existence, or I didn’t have a single-treadle, or… or maybe I’m just a bona fide noob after all and I have to learn this part the hard way just like everyone else.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some KNITTING to do.
While practicing my treadling, of course.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Nostalgic for DOS? How come? Finder came out at about the same time (Lisas, (then Macs) and IBM PCs all showed up at MIT the same summer, IIRC I used Apollos and a DEC-20, then Vaxen at the time). Only differences between them was that Finder 1) worked and 2) was easy to use and 3) was easy to program and DOS 1) didn’t work and 2) was hard to use and 3) was hard to program.
Oh, and the dumb decision that where you could put DOS on anything, and you couldn’t with Finder. DUMB, dumb, dumb decision.
Now, UNIX…._that_ is something to be nostalgic for….and EMACS!!!!! Remeber control-T and escape-T???? I STILL find myself going for them. “hT-control-T e”
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The same tribal memory thing happened to me when I tried to spin for the first time! I don’t know what it is, but somehow spinning makes sense to me, the same way I have very little trouble cooking over a fire. Makes me feel like a throwback, despite how much I lurve my washing machine. I just tell my techie friends that they’ll be glad to have me around when the Apocalypse comes.
I’m jealous of your Featherweight. My mom has one, so as the only daughter I staked my claim loudly and immediately, in front of witnesses. We talk all the time about modern multi-tasking items and how they save time and/or space, but I have a suspicion in the back of my mind that by cramming many different uses into one tool, we’ve lost something I can’t put my finger on.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Now, now, any spinner can tell you that when that fancy drive band thingie snaps or the metal clip breaks in the middle of the night or a long holiday or a 3 day delivery guy window from the store, you simply yank cordage, string, rubber bands and/or paper clips and keep going. It’s a beautiful wheel-has it told you it’s name yet? It’s SO you.
I picked up spindling much easier than wheel spinning, too. My fiber friends find that odd and unusual. But try pre-drafting a bit on the wheel. I know you were avoiding it but it’ll help you get the feel for drafting thinner and getting the Scotch tension set where you need to it to pull the fiber just right for you. And then you’ll find yourself doing it without the pre-drafting at all, in no time. After all, you’re having to think about your what your foot’s doing now, too.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I don’t know nuthin’ about that spinning stuff, but that wheel is GORGEOUS!
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Yes, I think you as a spinner in a former life must not have had a wheel. You were out there with the sheep and your spindle!
My children think my ‘94 Saturn (replaced my ‘81 Honda when its engine threatened to drop out of the body due to rust) with the windows you actually roll up and the shift is weird. They think it’s even weirder that I WANTED a stick shift and had to look a bit to find one, even in 1994. I will drive it until it dies.
I love your wheel. I still have not used a spindle. My one foray into spinning was sitting at a wheel. I tended to treadle like a musician….keeping a strong beat! Aka overspinning…. but it all came out in the plying, actually, pretty much, so it wasn’t too bad.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Heh. If you thought the alpaca was nice after SPINNING, wait till you PLY that stuff!
Dreamy!
Wheels don’t *have* to have names, BTW…none of mine do, they just don’t seem to want them.
Glad to see that someone beat me to the ‘incredible array of fiber’ gift–that’s less I have to send.
And HEY, Colleen!! I LOVED my DOS!! Don’t knock it, it actually did exactly what you told it to do. Unlike these @%@# smartarse computers with all the pretty pictures and not a lick of sense! Still miss the darn stuff, although I must admit I do enjoy the whole Internet experience thing.
Spinning…um. I am happy to see that I am not the only one who has had the ‘my hands already KNOW this!?!???!’ experience. Very odd feeling.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Wait a minute! My mother-in-law has one of those wheels. At least she had one of those spinning wheels; sure hope she didn’t toss it. (Must send hubby to make nice with his mum and procure said wheel).
And my ‘87 Honda is still running strong.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hah! I actually saw that wheel on ebay. Nice choice, and not a beginner wheel but not a terrible wheel for a beginner either. And you’ll have plenty of time to try out lots of other wheels and then acquire them. I might sicc Marcy on you. And yes, something in me knew this spinning business too. And it had to be on a spindle for me too. The wheel came in good time. I suppose the whole wheel thing is brand-new technology, if you look at it from the perspective of reincarnation.
By the way, still laughing.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Like you, I had MUCH less trouble with the had spindle than with the wheel. I honestly think it is “in our genes” since historically if you wanted socks, clothes, etc. you HAD to spin. EVERYONE did it…while walking, sitting, all the time. So I think it is truly PART of us still, at least that’s my theory!
Your wheel is quite beautiful. Take your time, get to know it, and soon you will be producing those beautiful singles like you get from the hand spindle. I like double tredles, and even when spinning on a single tredle, I use both feet, you may want to try that to see how it works for you. And don’t be afraid to REALLY screw up because hey that’s how you learn the most!!
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Every new spindle, every new fiber, every new wheel has it’s own learning curve. I find spinning wheels actually take away a measure of control of your spinning, which is why I prefer spindles and spindle wheels.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I love your wheel, it’s beautiful! I swear to you when my husband bought his first wheel (that’s now mine) it was like a romance scene in a movie. He saw it across the aisle at Stitches West years ago. I saw the expression on his face and it was as if he even I, disappeared. He walked slowly toward it like nothing else in the room existed. I think I heard music swell. The love affair lasted until he realized he’d need a folding wheel to take camping with us. When he bought his Lendrum he tossed his first love aside without a backwards glance. But I adopted her and love her to pieces. And since then he’s purchased a Victoria and I get THE Lendrum when we go camping. But Miss K(romski) is my still my favorite wheel.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 pm
You wuz mad about all those commentz, weren’t you. I’s sorry.
Your wheel is truly a thing of beauty, may it also be a joy to you forever.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Meine Liebe Tochter, was hast du gemacht?
Gretchen am Spinnrade hat gar nichts über dich!!
Gratuliere…
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I suspect your so-called comeuppance at the wheel will last about thirty seconds. Take the previous advice and try predrafting - it helps muchly with the speed of a wheel. (And fwiw, I also took like a duck-to-water in spindling, and then had to ease my way into the wheel spinning phase of things.)
And, because I can’t resist - I have two Featherweights, including a “rare” tan Canadian machine. And they did make a buttonhole attachment, just in case you need to know that.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Cassie - I just heard from her. Make that 15 seconds. Something went Click.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:15 am
No WAY! You haz a spinninz weel!
What goregous mellow wood that wheel has.
Your comment about there not being a penny within a 10-foot radius of that bobbin made me laugh out loud. I plied my first yarn today (which I found to be a total blast) and I was considering using a silver dollar, if anything.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:20 am
Wh….at?… Hu?…. Where am I? …. What happened?
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:04 am
wow! that’s one beautiful wheel! and for first spun on a wheel, that doesn’t look bad. the wheel is faster than the spindle & the drafting takes a touch of practice… that said, if you want to trade your first lumpy yarns for fiber, let me know. i love knitting the lumpy stuff
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 am
Like you, my first wheel came from eBay. It was the first one in usable condition that I could afford, and is an Ashford Traveller. I still love her, but the third wheel is now singing the siren’s song most of the time. As for the “predrafting” thing? I usually wind up splitting my rovings lengthwise. It thins them down enough for me to actually draft from.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 am
You lady, work fast. She is a beauty. I know, I know, it’s not fast at all, you simply must be making up for lost time, not having had a wheel in the previous manifestation. That’s it. Obviously no ebay either.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Gorgeous wheel! That slippery slope was greased with . . . umm . . . something REALLY GREASY! Goose grease, perhaps.
As for wind-up toys, you must come to Seattle. In the Pike Place Market, there is a shop called The Great Wind-up that I think will meet your wind-up toy needs. Then we can go to Archie McPhee for your glow-in-the-dark cockroach and other odds ‘n’ ends needs.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I inhaled so fast when I saw that beauty that there can’t be a fruitfly left in Kalamazoo.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
You know, in my first spinning class, I felt WAY more comfortable with what I was doing than I had any reason to feel. So I understand what you’re saying.
And I am FAR from being a Luddite*, but I too enjoy simple, easy to understand and fix equipment. Your wheel looks lovely. You’ll have it singing in no time at all.
*I’m typing this on my brand-new ultramobile Eee PC 901, using the wireless connection I installed yesterday.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Sorry this is so belated, but I did not much know you back then and did not see this until today’s linky.
About your already “knowing” how to do this. It’s a very common phenomenon amongst spinners. It happened to me. I believe/know that what’s going on is some form of race memory. We humans have been engaging in this activity for about as long as we have been humans. How could it not have become ingrained in our personal and collective psyches? I believe/know that when we first pick up fiber and spindle that it awakens that thing in us that has always know how this is done.
Yes, your hands have done this before. All our hands have done this before. From time beyond memory.