in Sheeps Clothing

This is my favorite toy, my Kromski Minstrel spinning wheel.

I received it as a Christmas (and birthday, and everything else) present in 2006. It has already seen many many hours of wear in it’s short life, but seems to enjoy the exercise.

Before I had a wheel of my own, I figured out the basics using an Ashford Traditional (kindly loaned to my by a friend at work who had it sitting around in her attic). I’ve got some serious fiber enablers in my midst, eh?

I did some research and test drove some wheels , but I finally settled on the Minstrel because I like the castle style, and it had a lot of options (double drive, good range of ratios, built in lazy kate) for a really reasonable price compared to some other makes/models. Plus, it’s pretty. I like it’s classic looks, with the wood turning and all. It looks nice sitting in our living room, and of course it is always out, because I’ve usually got something in progress!

I’ve got a pretty low-tech operation going on here.

I wash wool on the stovetop in a big pot dedicated to that use. Then I usually just flick out he locks and get spinning. For shorter fibers (or 2nds from the flick-method) I sometimes hard card into rolags.

To finish the yarn, I generally steam it with my iron. It sets the twist and I’ve found that it has a wonderful “plumping” effect on the fibers. I’ll have to post some “before and after steaming” photos so you can see what I mean.

New Tools! April , 2008

Below are my Alvin Ramer super mini combs that I acquired at a spin-in in, after a long an fruitless search for Viking Combs. I am really happy with them- they are a lot of fun to use, and they do a great job on my fiber. I originally didn’t think that I really needed a set that you could clamp down to a table, but now I’m not sure I’d do it any other way. These come with a great little carrying caddy that has a fixture built in to hold one comb stationary (you clamp the whole caddy down- it has nice little metal “pads” on he corners so you don’t mar the wood.)

Acquired Summer 09, Clemes and Clemes Drum Carder:

Acquired Fall 09, 2nd wheel- obviously quite old, origins unknown:

She’s been modified a bit to make her more versatile, and I had a few more bobbins custom made by Ron Antoine of Amity , OR.