Woolgathering :: Firming things up

{ 2007 07 27 }

Firming things up

I took a little time out last night. It was time to get to grips with the way the wheel actually works. I think things finally gelled and I know fully understand the Scotch tension, and the relationship to the treadle. And about time too!

I am aware of the claim that Leonardo da Vinci invented the spinning wheel flyer in 1516, and I have seen reproductions of the diagram - but I’m having a lot of trouble in finding a definitive page of information about Leo, his invention, and the mechanics behind it. Until I do find such a page, here is rather an interesting one about textile production through history.

I have the pink Merino back on the wheel, and I plan to spend an hour practising with that today. Apart from that, I’ll try to get some knitting done - and I hope to spend time sorting out some photographs that I can enter for the show next week. The photographs will need re-cropping to fit the class rules (7 x 5 inches) and probably some slight tweaking in Photoshop, plus there is one class for manipulated digital images… that should keep me busy for a while, as I can enter two images per class.

So, very much a change of focus today.