A few years ago, I was introduced to hand spun yarn by a good friend. Of course, I immediately wanted to make my own yarn, thinking that logically if I could make my own yarn then I would be able to attain yarn for projects at less expense than yarn from a store. That conclusion was false. However, it did lead to yet another hobby and skill that I wanted to learn and master.
I first started spinning yarn with a home-made drop spindle… which I don’t recommend. I made my drop spindle out of a dowl rod, I think a sock for the weight, a hook, and copious amounts of tape. I’ve made similar tools, for instance a cross stich hoop out of a Tupperware container, to test whether it was something I wanted to actually spend money on getting the correct tools for. Despite the shoddy construction of the drop spindle I was able to make some yarn, and the same friend who introduced me to hand spun yarn took pity and gifted me with a drop spindle.
With the much-improved drop spindle I spun and dyed about two pair of socks worth of yarn. But I dreamed of being able to spin, dye and knit a sweater. Clarice, who was a kitten at the time loved to try and help spin with the drop spindle, mesmerized by the string it created. So spinning on a drop spindle didn’t last very long before I started looking up spinning wheels. And boy are they pricey.
My first spinning wheel was an EEW Wheel – I think it was the first iteration, right after the kick starter had taken off. These are now much improved and while this wheel is perfect for traveling, I didn’t quite get the hang of it to produce consistent fine singles to ply together. I also had an issue with overheating the motor, which was resolved by replacing the hobby motor with a new one.
After searching for affordable spinning wheels, be them used or electric up popped Gertrude. She was listed on Etsy from a lady in Germany who was using it as a prop for wedding photo shots. In the listing she was missing the flyer and had some flowers hot glued where they should be. That wouldn’t deter me, the wheel was intact and I would make something to work. Thankfully however the seller messaged while packing Gurtrude up to ship, her husband had found the flyer and a spool in the attic and would be including it as well.
My relationship with Gertrude at first was… not a good one. As soon as she arrived, I strung up a drive band with some cotton twine and tried for days to spin anything resembling yarn. I even consulted raverly forums trying to identify what kind of spinning wheel she actually was, and what I could be doing wrong. This is where I found out that Gertrude was possibly a non-working spinning wheel, a hodgepodge of different types of spinning wheels, trying to do both double drive band with scotch tension all in the same machine.
And after a few weeks of this I put her away. About a year later I dug her out, thinking she had time to think about how she had failed me. After a thorough cleaning and purchasing a drive band she finally worked.
SHE WORKED!
I have now spun my first sweater’s worth of yarn, probably more. Gertrude was my entry into foot powered spinning wheels, similar to the hobbled together drop spindle she was an experiment to see if it was something that I would enjoy doing and continue to use. And I loved spinning on her. I recently was gifted with a new, double treadle spinning wheel that hopefully will improve my posture when spinning. I was gifted with the Ashford Kiwi 2 spinning wheel, which was lovingly hand finished. And wow what a difference it made in my spinning game. But possibly more to come on that later, after the new wheel gets a name.
