Ever since I grew up, I have always wanted to have a spinning wheel in my room as a decoration. I waited for it for a long time. Then, finally, I found one at a flea market.
The Dream
It seemed to be in fairly good condition, although the spinning wheel must have been about 100 years old. The price was reasonable, too. I bought it. This happened about ten years ago. And that was when the wheels started turning.
Missing Parts
I began researching what they actually look like. Was there anything missing? Well… yes. Not a big deal, just the drive rod. From then on, I tried to look for it at flea markets. It was nowhere to be found. And without it, the wheel wouldn’t work.
I started searching for descriptions and watching videos. What does such a part even look like? Maybe I could have one custom-made. What I learned about them was that every single spinning wheel is unique. Each one is a distinct piece of craftsmanship. No two are alike.
Frustrating Flaws
However, at a subsequent flea market, I found another complete spinning wheel. This one was old too, but it seemed to have all its parts. I bought this one as well.
By then, I had become quite skilled at taking them apart and putting them back together. I knew how to use it (although I hadn’t mastered the foot treadle yet). I gave it a try. The drive band and the bobbin kept falling off constantly. It was incredibly frustrating.
‘It can’t be true,’ I thought to myself, ‘that I can’t spin. Especially when I already know so much about it.’ I didn’t know who to turn to for advice. The Hungarian websites on the internet only spoke in generalities; their content was mostly ethnographic in nature. Therefore, I started browsing and reading more and more English websites. There was a lot of advice available there. I learned that every single part on the spinning wheel affected the problem I was trying to solve: the length of the band, its tension, the wheel being parallel to the base, and so on. Still, I couldn’t manage to make either of my spinning wheels functional.
The Third
Then came another flea market. Here, I found a spinning wheel of a different design, cheaply. I bought this one too. This was perhaps the year before the Covid pandemic. Now I owned three spinning wheels.
I was relatively lucky with this one. I was able to spin with it. However, it had two flaws: it twisted the yarn too tightly, and I still couldn’t use my foot to drive it. I experimented and experimented, but I couldn’t manage to coordinate my hands and foot. So, I learned to turn the wheel by hand. I even made some yarn, from which I later crocheted a square ‘rug.’ It turned out to be about thirty centimeters. I was happy.
Then, I don’t know what happened to it, but the glue joint in the middle split apart. No matter how hard I tried to re-glue it, it kept coming undone. I completely lost my desire to use the spinning wheel. I didn’t even touch any of them until I retired 2–3 years ago and moved to a new place.
Fresh Focus
I brought them with me, dusted them off, and the ‘I must solve this problem’ fever hit me again. I took each one apart, piece by piece. I searched for new videos. At my new place, there was a handyman who helped fix the seating of the bobbin. So now it doesn’t fall off. He also made a new footrest to replace the old, broken one. However, he couldn’t help with making it functional because he didn’t understand how it worked.
For nearly two years, I didn’t have much success either—just a tiny bit each time. But that was enough reason not to give up. By turning the wheel by hand, I was already able to make good progress, but I was still unable to use my foot.
Triumphant Treadling
Two weeks ago, however, I finally succeeded with the foot treadle as well. So, after nearly 10 years of trying, I can say that I have mastered the use of the spinning wheel.
Chiengora
There is one more interesting thing I would like to share here.
I am not only trying to spin sheep’s wool, but DOG HAIR as well. I experimented with my daughter’s white Akita hair, and I was successful. As it turns out, this activity even has its own special name. (Chiengora)
