# A friend bought me a present at the auction ...



## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

I had a super fun day visiting with a fibery friend who drove out from town to shear a sheep: she's doing "50 things by 50" (her birthday is in a year) and I suggested shearing as something to add to her list and she thought that would be a ton of fun. 

So, she came out and sheared two of our Icelandic lambs (with hand shears, the way we do it with the sheep in a headgate). Both lambs had lovely long fleeces (and will still be warm enough for winter - they'll grow more, most Icelandics can easily be shorn twice a year). My friend got to take the wool home for her birthday present ... she is an excellent spinner and will no doubt turn them into something absolutely fabulous. One is silver/gray the other black/chocolate tips. I was given me some lovely bits of raw fibre from her stash as thanks, and a skein of black lace weight alpaca, so I'll get to try those out as well, which is super fun!

Then, just as those friends were heading out .. another friend pulled into the driveway. He had been to a horse auction today, old buggies and such, and at the end of the auction there was something that he thought I might like. If I didn't want it, I was to say so, but it was a gift for me if I did think I might enjoy it.

Gee, what do you think I said?










It's an antique Canadian wheel - from Nova Scotia, he said, it has no maker's mark. The wheel is STRAIGHT AND UNWARPED, though it sits unevely in the supports and there's one loose spoke (those can be fixed). The flyer is cracked and damaged and has no hooks, but the pieces of the wheel are all there! I am thinking I may be able to purchase a standard-make flyer assembly (like an Ashford) and fit it in place with only a little modification: she's a double drive, and I'll get some measurements and do some research. If not, I have a neighbour who is a 'fancy woodworker' and could probably make me what I need.

Oh goodness ... the wheel just told me her name. She is Jacqueline (pronounced the Acadian way, Jack-leen'): the friend who bought her for me is named Jack, so of course she must be named for him.

Oh and even more goodness ... I was looking at the Ashford site, reading about the replacement parts and wondering about measurements when I realized, duh, I *have* an Ashford Traveller ... so I just now went and took the flyer assembly off and put it on Jacqueline - and it *fits*. There'll be a few tiny tweaks needed to make it sit smoothly but I can see how to do it ... oh my goodness, I will be able to make this wheel work! Wow!

:banana02:

I am the one of the most blessed and happy people around just now, I think.


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## dranger1108 (Aug 7, 2010)

that is a great find your friend got you... congrats!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

The flyer:









I'm presently thinking that the Ashford jumbo double drive flyer add-on - which comes with a spare maiden upright that has the metal 'circle' that the orifice end of the bobbin goes into - would be the piece I need: I can affix the metal circle to the existing maiden upright, but on the inside edge (since the opening between the leather supports is just a weeee bit too wide for the flyer assembly to fit snugly, so going that much closer 'inward' will take up the necessary slack, *and* give me a place to attach the 'circle piece'. If I stain it dark to match, it will clearly be 'new', but it should 'go'. I will keep the old piece as an antique - but I can tell this wheel wants to be in use more than she wants to be 'all original'.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Wow! Very cool.

Happy New Wheel Day, frazzlehead!

It looks like the flyer has grooves in it, instead of hooks? 

I agree that she would prefer to be functional.
If she wanted to be left 'all original' there would be a bad warp or parts missing.

Good luck and happy spinning!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Yeah, GAM, it does have grooves on one side, but the other (which you can't see in this picture) has holes where it looks like hooks used to reside. 

I'm just flabbergasted by the whole occurrence - my friend was just grinning and I hugged him and hugged him! What a thing to do for someone! 

He said since the auction was mostly horse stuff (and really really cool horse stuff - like old buggies and surreys with fringes on top and cutters...) there wasn't really anyone interested in an old wheel. He kinda figured I'd like it - although if I didn't, there's an 'old house' in the area that's a tea house now, and he was pretty sure they'd use it for a decoration if I couldn't make her work.

Ohhh I can make her work, I am sure! That wheel is HUGE and it's going to be an absolute dream to treadle, I can tell. Hmm, now where did DH put the small round file? I need it to fix the level of the wheel's set....


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

What a blessed day you had! I was just thinking about you today and wondering how you've been doing. That's wonderful ! ! ! 

Jenny


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## canadiangirl (Jul 25, 2004)

Bonjour Jacqueline from the land of l'Acadie. Glad she's settled into a new home. Funny how things travel. I seen a wheel similar to that in an antique shop the other day. I don't know enough about spinning to know if it worked or not and the shop person hadn't a clue either.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Oh Frazzle what a fantastic day you had, and such friends, WOW!!! That wheel is beautiful I can't wait to see it all cleaned up and running. I love the name too, that was my best friend's name when I was growing up. I'm sure she feels very welcome in your house.


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## JanS (Jul 28, 2002)

That is just wonderful.  I was also struck by the "50 by 50" idea....I have two years to go and have been working on some things I'd put off....but now I'm making a list!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Frazzle, she's gorgeous!!

I'm wondering if the grooves on the flyer were caused by friction, like the spinster ran the yarn from the hook, over the other flyer arm for additional braking in the bobbin wind on??

That's going to be fast wheel! Look at the size of that drive wheel!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Thank you all for sharing in my happiness!  She is stunning. I spent last evening with the lemon oil and WD40 and the Ravelry CPW list ... and you'll never believe it, but I got the flyer apart, cleaned, and back together! It still needs hooks added (will try that this afternoon) - and probably a bit more wood glue on the crack. 

Cyndi, someone on the CPW list mentioned a similar thing for grooves on a flyer someone posted pictures of - that the flyer may have been cross threaded (right term?). I think that is what it looks like - wood worn down from wool rubbing on it. Someone else said it might be marks made by the woodworker to show where the hooks go (for spacing).

*I actually got a drive band on her this morning and successfully managed to get the wheel to turn and turn the bobbin and flyer. *Woohoo! The leather on the front maiden is worn through and the flyer pops out and falls to the floor - so I took a 10mL syringe, cut a 1 cm long 'ring' from it with the Dremel and wedged the little tube into the opening in the leather- now it'll hold the front of the flyer, and because it's plastic, it's not got a lot of friction *and* it was able to kinda squish into an oval to fit into the space.  

Later today I will add some bent finishing nails for hooks - the flyer wood is very thin and fragile and cup hooks with screws will just shatter it, I think. I saw pictures of other flyers with tne bent nails happening too, so ... that ought to be 'legitimate'. 

Does anyone have a double drive Traddy? If you do - I'd be terrifically grateful if you could measure the length of the flyer assembly from tip to tip - i.e. from the orifice opening at the front to the tip of the pointy bit at the back that goes into the back maiden support. While I am going to attempt to get this flyer up and running, I am thinking I may want to get an Ashford DD flyer assembly and use it for some of the spinning - she wants to be used more than she wants to be "period perfect" - but as I said, I'm still gonna try to get this flyer working. It's just very old and fragile, and it'd be nice to have something I could readily get parts for, for when what I want it is to SPIN - not pretend I live in historic Nova Scotia. 

I have no idea how I'm supposed to get any WORK done today ... I just want to work on my wheel!


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## Pakalana (Mar 9, 2008)

I'm beyond envious! That is a beautiful wheel and great friend. 

Can't wait to see the pics after she's all oiled down and gussied up!


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## Mrs. Homesteader (May 10, 2002)

I'm so excited for you. What a great friend!!!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Here she is after a lemon oil bath (and getting the maiden uprights on the proper way round, thanks to the good folk at the CPW list on Rav!)

You can see my temporary fix to the front leathers ... it's a chunk cut from a syringe to make a tube to support the flyer. 










Footman:









And Jaqueline:


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

I still can't believe it. She's so beautiful - and she WORKS! So many of these old wheels need a ton of help to recover, and many are missing parts... she's got everything, and with the drive band on and the whorls in place, she doesn't throw the drive band off, meaning we'll be able to get her up and running for certain.

It's so funny ... out in the barn, shearing, my friend's husband asked me how many wheels *I* was going to have (his wife, the 50by50 lady, just got her third, I think) and I laughed & said i was quite content with the two I have.

And then this showed up in my driveway not 3 hours later. Wow.

Toooooooooooooooooooo cool. I'm going to be using all my woodworking skills tonight: got the Dremel out, and I found a flat metal plate that I think I can use as the brace across the split in the top of the flyer (several other people showed similar repairs) .... we shall see!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Dont you just wish that wheel could talk?
I would love to hear the stories of all the fibers she has spun and the people who have made her sing.

I like the treadle. That didn't show up at all in your first pics. Just beautiful!

Did you get the bent nails on there yet?


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

frazzlehead said:


> Does anyone have a double drive Traddy? If you do - I'd be terrifically grateful if you could measure the length of the flyer assembly from tip to tip - i.e. from the orifice opening at the front to the tip of the pointy bit at the back that goes into the back maiden support. While I am going to attempt to get this flyer up and running, I am thinking I may want to get an Ashford DD flyer assembly and use it for some of the spinning -


I have a DD Traveler, will that work? It's set up with a Jumbo flyer ... I have the standard flyer around here somewhere. The drive band whorl is on the opposite to the orifice. 

When you order the new DD flyer, make sure you get the correct one. Ashford makes two models. One with the flyer whorl on the same side as the orifice and one with the flyer whorl on the opposite side of the orifice.

BRB

7 - 7/8" from tip to tip on the Jumbo flyer and Regular flyer alike


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

So .... you know what this means, eh?

It's cobbled together still - with a twist of wire to make a hook, the chunk of syringe holding the orifice in place, and she purrs like a cat when she runs but ... that's YARN!!!

I have had a busy day. well, I did work ... mostly ... it was hard but I got a day in.  Then ...

I got out the steel wool and ammonia and washed the wheel down - this is a strategy for getting old guck and stuff off and wow, I had a hundred years of I dunno what on my hands. Under all that she's MUCH lighter and you can actually see the wood grain! Got her all cleaned up (even took the MOA off and scrubbed underneath) and gave her one coat of tung oil - she will need more oil, the wood is thirsty, but wow, she just glows (I am a huge fan of oil finishes anyway - my walls and floor are done with Watco oil stains!).

... more in a sec...


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Cyndi, yes, any DD measurements would be awesome - I have cobbled together the flyer she came with but it's got just the one bobbin, and although I *do* want to get her running with her original parts, I think I may use the Ashford flyer if it will fit, just for the convenience of it. Then I can 'save the parts' for if I ever do any historical demos and such - and not put more wear on their already ancient bones!

More pictures coming up....


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

7 and 7/8 inches.

Wow!! She's beautiful!!

Steel wool and ammonia ... is the ammonia diluted?

For putting in additional hooks, predrill the holes if you can.

Love your floor! Looks like what we have in the kitchen & great room ... is used to be the hay mow flooring from a 1916 barn.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Oh yeah, you see my flyer repair trick? It's one of those brass plates with the jagged edges you use to hang pictures - I hammered it flat and put one on each side to brace the break in the flyer. It's nice & stable now! Still need to get it solidly affixed to the centre flyer pin (it doesn't quite fit snugly so it wiggles a bit) and get hooks in. Someone on the Rav board suggested just twisting a loop of wire around to make a temporary hook - it's like a twist tie sliding flyer!

Here she is after the scrubbing & tung oil - WAY lighter, eh?


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Thank you for measuring, Cyndi! 7 and 7/8 would be a smidgen too short I think - although I can think of a few ways to rig it to work regardless ... I shall continue to ponder. Thank you!!

Glad you like the floor - I got it from a place in BC that makes wide plank flooring - and I laid every single board myself - predrilled and countersunk every screw! My DH has done a lot of the work on the house (most of it in fact) but I am very proud of the fact that the entire floor was my work.  It needs sanded & refinished, but we'll do that after we are finished dragging scaffolding around!

For the ammonia, yes you dilute it. I used the household stuff though which isn't very strong anyway - but wow did I get a lot of brown drippy guck off that wheel! I think someone may have tried to stain it with a water based stain (over an original oil finish) - but I dunno, maybe that's how ancient shellac finishes come off? It seemed too easy - it almost wiped off! I look at the before & after pictures and I'm just ... stunned. I keep saying that, don't I? :S


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I'm stunned also, and that's just through the pictures! she just glows!

I love your brace! Smart cookie you are! 

Oh Wow!! I just found the pictures in post 14!! Unbelievable!

We scrubbed the boards from the hay mow, and like you, countersunk & screwed it into place. Then youngest went around with wooden plugs and pounded (rubber mallet) plugs to cover the screws. A light sanding was next. These boards were milled with a huge saw that left scorch marks on the wood ... character!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Hay mow boards, how cool is that! I had to order mine ... but mine do have sections that are blue from pine beetle damage, which makes neat patterns in the floor. And we lived on it for a couple months before we stained it so it has lots of neat marks ... my (now deceased) beagle's footprint, my footprint, lots of drip marks - yeah, character. who wants a perfect unmarked floor?  They did offer plugs as an option .. I decided that really, I was okay with screw heads - predrilling and countersinking was enough for me!

Jaqueline will need more oil - probably tomorrow I'll give her more tung oil, then we'll switch to lemon oil which at least doesn't stink so bad. This wood is THIRSTY though - Alberta is VERY dry and if she came from Quebec (the Rav folks believe she is a Frederic Bordua, made in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, I think in the early 1900s) then she is used to a much more humid environment than we have out here. I'll just keep oiling until there's a nice shine that stays ... even my son was saying he could see the oil seeping in - wipe it on and the wood goes dull right away ... yep, that's thirsty wood! Well, we can fix that problem - I LOVE wood and oil together, so that will be no problem in this household!

Getting that flyer working nicely now ... hmm.

The bobbin is snagging at one point I think, that base is not circular and it dings the flyer. I'm going to take the Dremel to it tomorrow, I think. 

Wow, this is just so cool. I don't think my friend had any idea he was opening up a can of worms quite this large with his gift - but WOW am I grateful! He's a horseman (like, goes off back country just him and the horse for a week) and has talked to me before about making a handspun mohair cinch ... so I am thinking that's gonna be his thank you gift!


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## katy (Feb 15, 2010)

Talent, determination and hard work almost always guarantee success. Congratulations on your wheel, what beautiful wood. Happy spinning to Frazzlehead.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Jaqueline's maiden run:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4B4uGIQL7A&feature=youtube_gdata"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4B4uGIQL7A&feature=youtube_gdata[/ame]


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Before & after


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Oh my she is beautiful, what a treasure you have. I'm with GAM, if only she would talk. From the video it looks like she spins fast and very well. She has a nice voice too  She is just gorgeous.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Love the video! Isn't it amazing how much different she looks w/ some scrubbing.
Just an awesome transformation. Cool to see your frazzlehead self in there too.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

frazzlehead, I measured my flyer from tip to tip, 8 & 1/8 ". It is a Schacht-Reeves. Ps. congrats on your Beautiful new wheel!!!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Frazzle! She's mezmorizing!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Ah, thanks 7th swan! Double drive, eh? Good to have the measurements - there are often flyers available and then I'll have options. 

And yeah, Cyndi, I was over in the living room just staring at her not five minutes back


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

frazzlehead said:


> Ah, thanks 7th swan! Double drive, eh? Good to have the measurements - there are often flyers available and then I'll have options.
> 
> And yeah, Cyndi, I was over in the living room just staring at her not five minutes back


Yup.DD.


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## Mrs. Jo (Jun 5, 2007)

Just amazing! She really purrs like a kitty!


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## Pakalana (Mar 9, 2008)

That is just something special, it really is. After sitting in barn all this time, she's talking again. 
She looks fantastic after her scrub and oiling, loved the before and after pics! 
Congrats again!!


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

what a beauty.
i love how she spins. seems so effortless and smooth. oh and the lovely sound. 
congratulations. aren't you glad you have such a nice friend?


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

That was The Boy, playing with his new iPod Touch - which he purchased in part with his drop spindle revenues! 

It's pretty neat, eh? She does purr.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Just in case anyone here's interested in the more technical details of the repairs - or maybe just my MacGyver tendencies ....

I have the flyer repair complete (well, hopefully &#8230; we&#8217;ll see how it holds up)!

As shown yesterday, the split is braced with a flatted picture bracket nailed onto either side.

Today, I found saxophone reeds (i.e. thin pieces of wood) and used them to shim the inside of the &#8216;collar&#8217; of the flyer, so that it holds stable on the flyer rod. I want to be able to take the flyer off the rod without having to undo glue or some such, so that if I want to replace it, I can do that without too much trouble. I used the Dremel to cut the reed into small chunks and wedged them in place until it all fit, then took it apart, put carpenter&#8217;s glue in the collar, and stuck it all back together. I like carpenter&#8217;s glue because it&#8217;s not horribly &#8220;permanent&#8221; - you can scrape it or dissolve it off if you need to, but it holds up well under ordinary usage. With the shims in place, the flyer doesn&#8217;t even wiggle on the shaft.

The arms of the flyer were cracked at the tips, so I put wood glue between the pieces and clamped it. That seemed to work pretty well: I think maybe at some point it&#8217;d be good to laminate the entire thing, but that&#8217;s beyond my skills just yet, and honestly, by that point, making a new one might be better. I hope to do that anyhow - it&#8217;s not like I have no wood or tools around here, so hey, why not try? _And may I just say, blessings to my parents who taught me that girls can TOO do this kind of stuff - particularly my Dad, who did a lot of woodworking and never shooed us girls out of the shop. I&#8217;m not particularly skilled, I&#8217;ll be the first to tell ya, but hey, I can do the basics, and that is thanks to Dad!_

Next mission was hooks: back downstairs to the Vast Inherited Stash of Interesting Stuff (which is where the sax reeds were), where I found some odd looking hooks that were about the right size. Cut them to fit and carefully nailed them into the existing holes. They aren&#8217;t super solidly in place &#8230; I&#8217;ve got the entire assembly set to cure, hopefully that extra wood glue will help bind things together a bit more solidly.

Oh, then there was that repaired bobbin base - oi what an ugly piece of work that is. Traced a circle on it with my son&#8217;s protractor and rounded it off with the Dremel. It now fits between the arms of the flyer properly - I doubt it was used very much with that in place &#8230; but hey, as witnessed yesterday, it WAS possible - just maybe not ideal.

So, the whole set up is waiting for me to come back and try spinning some more &#8230; but here are a few more pictures!

The whole schmoo put back together:









My funky musical shim job:


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

... and I'm back from my second spinning attempt - success!

The flyer hooks are a bit loose, I'll have to find a better glue to hold them in place, but they do work and that wheel is faaaaaaaaaaaast. I spun through a big hunk of roving in no time flat! No wonder they are called 'production wheels'.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Whee!! Well, that was pretty quick. 

You barely just got this wheel. 

Thanks for sharing the whole thing with us.
I bet with some practice, you could become a great woodworker, too.

Just keep cutting out flyers until you get one you like.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Frazzle, 
Forgot to tell you last night (I was too dazzled by the wheel spinning round and round) that I love your supported long draw. Were you using fiber from the Upper Canadian Mill? I just love the way that fiber drafts! Any time you go up there to get another stash, let me know, I want at least a pound of it.

Yay for Dads!! My Daddy taught me alot about mechanics by just watching from the shadows and more importantly that there was nothing I couldn't do. He sent me a birthday card that made me cry with happy, memory tears. I love my Daddy!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

GAM you made me laugh out loud! I have every intention of doing just that - cutting out flyers until I get one I like!  Hey, I can cut! I can sand! I know what I want! I'll know when it's right - so I might as well just do it myself! 

Cyndi, thanks for the compliment on the long draw - I totally winged it.  Flannelberry is taking Spinning Level 1 at Olds and has been working on long draw and had posted a link to a video recently, so I thought about that as I was practicing and ... wow, it worked! Too cool. It's never worked before!

The fibre is from my own Icelandic sheep, prepared at Custom Woolen Mills here in Alberta. I sent two fleeces to be prepared (cost a bunch o' money but it was worth it) and this is almost the last bit I have left. CWM does really nice rovings - they have 'breed specific' stuff sometimes - just call or email them, they are really nice to work with. Their generic rovings are really nice too - you'd probably enjoy spinning them. I am knitting my sister's Sylvi out of their Lopi, as well. Their mill is all antique equipment, super cool to see.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

... and since The Boy is so enjoying his new iPod, here's the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6B5YBkQ4QE"]video [/ame]of tonight's spinning. Most of the racket comes from the footman, but underneath you can still hear the wheel herself purring.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

WIHH, I did grab my 'mill prepared' wool on purpose - it's easier to spin than the stuff I do by hand and I wanted to concentrate on the wheel, and not have to worry about the fibre.

Flannelberry says that I "predraft my knowledge" - she's been working on the long draw, and had shown me a video of a lady doing it ... so I'd seen it recently and when the wheel "felt" like it would cooperate with that, I just kinda tried it. And it worked! I don't really think about my drafting technique much - which is probably because I normally do some version of 'inchworm' ... but the fibre tells you what it wants you to do, so I just ... do what gives me string and don't worry much about it!

However, now I think I'll be paying more attention. 

Someone mentioned earlier that the flyer looks like it's been crisscross threaded (the grooves in it suggest that) ... does that slow the takeup? I'm trying to figure out how to make Jaqueline work for different kinds of yarn, now that I've figured out how to get her turning round and round!


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