Oh look! A new toy...

A dear friend is clearing out his family home. His mother was a spinner and I picked her spinning wheel up last week as we were helping him get ready for the move.

Now I don't know how to spin, but I thought I could find her a good home. What with all my yarny, spinny, knitty friends.

Clearly she had other ideas as she quickly wormed her way into my heart. She looked so beautiful and felt so good in my hands.

A friend from my knitting group came to see her. It turns out that some of the parts were not directly to do with the spinning wheel, but cool in, and of, themselves.

Two knitty noddies,

and one hand-crank skein winder.

Oh, sure she was dusty, but all her parts were there (which is more than I can say for myself)!

So today I took her out into the sunshine and dusted all her nooks and crannies. She is beautiful. She was made by Istvan Nagy in 1971. It seems from googling around the internet his spinning wheels are quite well respected. She came with six bobbins and three different sizes of whorls and a built in Lazy Kate. Aren't you all impressed with the new words I have learned just since last night?

I imagine she needs a deeper clean, some wood oil and some new drive strings, but I am told butcher string works just fine for that. I think all I need to buy is a springy thingy with hooks on both ends for something or other (OK, I don't know ALL the words yet.)



I have already found a ten week spinning class that starts in September. (not that kind of spinning, I swim for fitness remember, stay with me people).

Anyways, I already love her, and I haven't spun one blessed strand.

And look?

She is already making friends with the tomato plant.