Call me a spinster...
I scored a spinning wheel this weekend! It's pretty basic, this one in white. But I scored it for $80 from a yard sale! It seemed like the woman who was selling it never really learned how to use it, one of the parts, the brake assembly, wasn't on correctly (which I figured out after trying it out) and she was using some nappy, lanolin soaked wool that was just nasty. After cleaning off the PVC, getting the bits of that nappy fiber off of the bobbin and flyer and oiling the necessary parts (with PAM spray because I didn't have anything else), I managed to figure out how the brake assembly attached to the wheel and I was off and spinning with some yummy teal colored wool that I had been spinning with a hand spindle.
It was rough going at first, but once I figured out that adjusting the leather brake controlled the speed and I got the knack of the treadle, I was doing pretty good. I have a long way to go before I will be able to spin something consistent, but it was really exciting to see the little single start winding on to the bobbin for the first time! I had about 23g. of fiber spun up in my first try. Some parts were super thin, but there was maybe only one slub and there were no really wide sections. I'm hoping to fill two bobbins with about 25g. of singles and then learn how to ply so I can make a 50g. skein of plied yarn.
My mom was really interested when I told her I had a spinning wheel and was starting to learn how to spin. I was kind of hoping that I could maybe start spinning some wool for her to use in her weaving. We'll see - one step at a time!
It was rough going at first, but once I figured out that adjusting the leather brake controlled the speed and I got the knack of the treadle, I was doing pretty good. I have a long way to go before I will be able to spin something consistent, but it was really exciting to see the little single start winding on to the bobbin for the first time! I had about 23g. of fiber spun up in my first try. Some parts were super thin, but there was maybe only one slub and there were no really wide sections. I'm hoping to fill two bobbins with about 25g. of singles and then learn how to ply so I can make a 50g. skein of plied yarn.
My mom was really interested when I told her I had a spinning wheel and was starting to learn how to spin. I was kind of hoping that I could maybe start spinning some wool for her to use in her weaving. We'll see - one step at a time!