A couple of months ago, I was welcomed with open arms into a lovely affiliate collaboration with Revolution Fibers- an awesome company of people who truly are the friendliest folk you'll ever meet! I met them through the Shopify Collabs program that I was originally invited to via DGY prior.
I was gifted their premium top whorl drop spindle, as an insanely sweet gesture for joining their program. (I almost dropped dead from shock when I got the notification.) I specifically ended up choosing the multi-wood stripe option, just because the shape and color of that spindle looked so pretty. I needed to have it! LOL
Being completely honest, this was my very first experience with being gifted a product of any sort, so I was definitely losing my mind knowing I was finally going to adventure into the world of fiber spinning like I had been wanting to.
As someone who craves new stimulation and excitement every few months despite having such a consistent hobby, learning to spin was an obvious bucket-list style venture that was bound to pop up at some point for me- I was already watching YouTube videos trying to learn how it worked before I was even considering a spindle of my own!!
Needless to say, my spindle came beautifully packaged within a week's time- and I can't recommend it enough as a starter-spindle for those who also want to try their hand with fiber!
It's been such an easy new activity for me to pick up, and I spend almost every day spinning in my free time just to build up some new yarn for future-me to enjoy :) Pictured above is my first spin with mohair that I fully processed on my own- from picking, washing, and then carding straight to the spindle with some gloriously fuzzy rolags I made. (All of it sourced from a local farm too, not even an hours time away from me!)
Now you're probably wondering where an entire spinning wheel comes into play.
I never truly realized how much of a luxury-style tool more traditional forms of spinning has become in todays age.
It makes sense now that I've done my research, knowing that modern technology is a very common thing in the world of fiber production; meaning everything is machine-ran with a commercialized mill background being what supports modern day yarn brands keeping up with modern consumption.
Where as now with hand style spinning- it's not as common to see more vintage styles of technology readily available to the regular, every day crafter. I've only considered buying a wheel until much more recently since I've grown accustomed to spinning fiber on a spindle, and wanting to learn more about other methods of creation/how I can speed up my process.
Regular drop spindles typically range from $15 to $40 depending on the wood / materials, style, and weight of the whorl itself, so It's definitely an affordable and easy tool for any average person to take up! It's a very accessible hobby for sure.
But let me tell you, my heart DROPPED when I realized a full wheel at its absolute cheapest is a solid $500 straight from the wallet. Other ones can range from $600, all the way to $1200 depending on its options and materials. And eBay was no help- I still would have to drop nearly $400 for wheels that where of less-desirable condition, or needed a lot of work that would cost just as much as something brand new.
Money today functions a lot different than it did a few years ago, so Immediately I knew I'd have to save up long term, or make some big sacrifices along the way in order to get my lil grubby hands on my very own wheel LOL.
In the meantime, I just let myself forget about my spinning-wheel-dreams in order not to make myself feel sad that I wasn't quite financially ready to pick out my very own. Besides, I have a vintage Maruyama Knitting machine in my back room right now, sitting and collecting dust since I just haven't had the drive to pick it back up and get to working.
So why waste more space and time for something that's not in a realistic reach for myself right now?
The stars aligned instead.
Along came the holidays, and plenty of time has been spent with my family and friends since the start of last Friday. I visited my in-laws, my own family, and spent time eating so much food and even delivering food to friends of my family and neighbors who've been family for years now. It's been so busy... and I'm almost thankful that it's all finally over LOL.
Our closest neighbor, who I shall refer to as Mr. B, is a sweet older man in his 80s who lives alone with his basset-hound Bobo, and works his own lil DIY projects from the comfort of his home. He's an extremely crafty man, and is always open to indulging us with his little adventures of pottery, welding, and construction.
We always include him during our holiday festivities as he typically doesn't do much himself, as he's disabled and doesn't leave home often unless it's completely necessary. Family doesn't visit him often either, so my mom always makes it her mission to keep him feeling loved and welcomed within our family whenever he needs it.
Sunday night, Christmas Eve, just earlier this week my dad had me come over to chat with him for a bit from his garage just to say hey, and grab a present he had ready for my brother who currently welds full-time.
Mr. B dug out his very first welding piece that he practiced with when my brother had just started school- it's been years since then and he thought it was so silly to gift him a fat piece of metal wrapped in paper that looked all warped from mistakes and being stuck to another strip of metal for a good laugh LMAO.
I had just come back from last minute Christmas shopping with my siblings, and while standing there chatting, my dad decided to show off and flex my newest tote-bag design that I had with me to Mr. B that I just recently finished. (It was my Knotty Club spinners tote that features a cute lil vintage drawing of a girl spinning on a wheel!)
Mr. B immediately lit up after seeing it, and asked me if I was 'into that looming stuff', the stuff with a 'bunch of strings'. I laughed and said no, I'm more of a spinning girl like my bag shows, and explained how I use a drop spindle to make yarn since a real wheel has been too expensive for me to invest in right now.
Tell me why this sweet man says... "Well, I think I have one of those things too y'know."
Next thing I knew, he was having me, my dad, and my brother come inside to go dig it out of his attic to see if it was a wheel like I mentioned. I was sweating and losing my marbles before we even got his attic open- he hadn't been up there in decades since he wasn't mobile enough to clear it out himself, so I had no idea what to expect.
My dad was the first one up there to help move away the attic board, and needless to say, I almost passed out when he reached over and pulled out a full size spinning wheel flyer with the bobbin still attached to some very old wool string already spun onto it.
I can't even remember what happened next, because I was already on the verge of sobbing my eyes out knowing this man was about to let me take this glorious thing home with me. I just hugged him, and couldn't stop saying THANK YOU. I was nearly scared to take it home, I was feeling guilty.
So... here she is. I've decided to named her Becky, as an ode to his full surname, and as a thank you to his late-wife who originally owned this wheel for loom work and treated it like her very own child. She clearly used it often, which I love to see.
She was extremely well worn- it had the craziest coating of dust everywhere, and she definitely saw some damage to the metal plating, rusted screws and flyer hooks, and there was some minor grime to the wood from weather changes and moisture from being unprotected for so long.
This below, is a photo of the wheel after I spent nearly 4 hours cleaning it a second time, Christmas night when I was home again with my parents. I originally just dusted her down with some baby wipes and a rag so I didn't get dirty handling her- since I had no clue what goes into restoring anything wooden or rusted... but thankfully my mom had a bottle of Old English under the sink. She told me to just try it- it should help some, if anything at all.
I definitely think two coats of Old English nearly fixed her new.
Christmas was mostly spent on the floor thanks to this fateful experience- all just to take apart the rusted pieces that were more easily removable, and put down two coats of the wood oil to see if it would help restore some shine and remove some old markings since being left behind for so long.
It was so entertaining too. Oiling wood is about to open a whole new category of thrifting for me outside of just spinning wheels- knowing how easy it restores something that looks like it's seen a few things brings me deep satisfaction.
All I even needed was a scrap rag, and the spray bottle that the oil came in- the rest was just me mindlessly appreciating every little nook and cranny I could find on this thing to make sure I got EVERY inch of dust and staining.
Ive gotta say, she genuinely looks brand new now.
I can't tell if you can see the difference, but there's definitely new life brewing underneath that wood shine. Im so beyond thrilled.
After I finished cleaning her, I was dead set on doing some researching as well- and digging for accurate wheel manuals to read from online. I've finally concluded that she is indeed a 1981-style Ashford wheel, dating her as old as 40+ years. (I could tell, because I knew she was already old- and her scotch-tension knob faces the side of which you spin from. Apparently, that was a new feature built into the new models of the 80s. How cool!!)
The quality of the wheel genuinely hasn't degraded otherwise, too. She's really just missing some minor metal parts that I removed myself, and needs some TLC / further oiling of joints so she doesn't squeak as loudly. Otherwise, she's perfectly fine, and will definitely still last another decade or two with further love and appreciation.
Insane what quality craftsmanship can do with age.
May 2024 bring more fiber, more yarn, more learning.
In all seriousness though, I've truly never felt more blessed than I do now to be surrounded by such lovely people in my life. Even my mom feels like the stars really did align for Christmas- she knows exactly how much this means to me and my work. I kept crying even at home, just from the shock of such kindness and excitement for me and what I love to do.
She's been sending me photos of the wheel every morning now since I left it home with my parents while waiting on some replacement parts to come in the mail. (She's so funny, she knows my brain all too well.)
More updates will have to come once I clean my own space here with my boyfriend, and get her home with me for some further repairing and later usage. I just hope this brings even more good things for me and my business- it's truly a brand new resolution I wish to bring into 2024 to spin yarn and finally share my work to sell as physical product! I can't keep everything to myself... Im seriously running out of room here lol.
I hope this was a fun little read for you though- I love blabbering about this stuff, and I genuinely hope to expand more on fiber-based content / share more about spinning with vintage means on a real-deal wheel.
It's the perfect blogging opportunity, and I hope it teaches you something new just as I've been doing my best to teach myself!!
Much love. <3
Let me know what you think!
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