I feel like I’ve written parts of this before, but I can’t find it. So here you go. Again.
It started in the early 1980s. When I was about six, I discovered the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’ve mentioned this a few times. To quote a previous post:
I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books as a child. I first read them when I was five, and reread them frequently until I was around nine. My paternal grandmother even made me a rag doll like Charlotte, Laura’s doll. I wasn’t into playing with dolls, but I sewed clothes for my Charlotte. Those books are where I developed an interest in older ways of doing things, which eventually led me to spinning and weaving.
At the time, we lived in Indiana. I was about six when I started reading Wilder, and around the same time we started visiting a living history museum called Connor Prairie once in a while. There would always be a woman spinning on a wheel like my JOS wheel, near the gift shop. I would stand and watch as long as I could, utterly fascinated.
When I was about seven, I received the Fisher-Price weaving loom for Christmas.
I wove a couple of scarves, if I remember correctly.
I also got a Sew Easy sewing machine around the same time.
I made curtains for the playroom, among other things.
Fast-forward to the mid-1990s. I was 17 and trying to quit smoking. I decided to give knitting a try. My paternal grandmother taught me when I was 9, but it didn’t stick. Neither did my maternal aunt’s attempt when I was 11. But this time it got me, and I’ve been a knitter ever since. (And I didn’t quit smoking until I was 31. Ah well.) I also tried crochet around this time. I enjoyed it, but it hurt my wrist too much. I can still do it fairly well — I’ve even taught paying students a few times — but not for long. I had to have surgery on that wrist back in 2010 for carpal tunnel, so I baby it a little.
In 2005 or 2006, some women from the Stitch n’ Bitch group I started went into business together and started a yarn shop. Hanks was glorious and I still miss it. It was where I met people who spun and had wheels. A friend gave me a 5-minute lesson on how to use a wheel, and I was off to the races. I tried a few different wheels before renting, then buying, a used Louet s90 from Hanks. I used that for a few years before I got a really good deal on an Ashford Joy in 2012. I’ve used the Joy ever since, adding a Woolee Winder to give me bigger bobbins, spend less time stopping to change flyer hooks, and get more yarn onto a bobbin. (They make them for pretty much every major wheel brand.) It was my only wheel until I got the JOS wheel, but that one only gets used for historical projects. I’ve put thousands of miles of yarn on the Joy, and it’s still going. I love it so much.
Also in 2012, I got my first “adult” loom, and Ashford 16″ rigid heddle. I used that for a while, then replaced it with a Schacht Cricket 15″. (There was another RH loom in there somewhere. Ashford Knitters Loom, maybe? I know it folded up.) Then I upgraded to a Louet Erica 4-shaft table loom. Each change of loom went like this: I would sell the one I had, and then use the money to buy the replacement. I almost always bought used. Weaving and spinning equipment are built to last lifetimes. Used stuff is great.
My first floor loom was a gift in 2021, a Macomber B5 40″ 4-shaft I eventually upgraded to a 10-shaft by buying a very cheap 8-shaft version with serious cosmetic damage, and taking 6 shafts off to add to my 4-shaft. I recently sold it. It was too big and I wasn’t using it.
At the moment I’m borrowing a Leclerc Minerva 23.5″ 4-shaft portable floor loom from a friend. I own a Leclerc Voyageur 9.5″ 8-shaft table loom, which I use for teaching, as well as a 10″ Cricket. I also have a few small tapestry looms and pin looms.
I have some beautiful spindles I never use, including an expensive Golding I was given for Christmas back when I was married. Currently my only interest in spindle spinning is doing it medieval style with a distaff a guild friend and I made. I need to practice more, though.
Anyway, that’s it. All of this can be blamed on Laura Ingalls Wilder, Connor Prairie, and an attempt to quit smoking. Amazing what can come from little things, eh?
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