Jonathon Bosworth had a new type of spinning wheel on display last weekend (8 August 2015) at Fiber Revival. Next to the spinning wheel was a big bright sign that said, "New design. Please try it and let us know what you think."
I sat at this new wheel at the end of the day, just before they were going to pack it up. I'm new to hand spinning so I asked, "What's different about this wheel?" So while Mr. Bosworth was explaining the similarity between this mechanism and the movement of a steam locomotive... Abby Frankmont came by, sat down and tried the wheel. She declared it a success for three reasons -which I can't remember, but one was that it would relieve her tendonitis. It was only when I noticed that she took off her shoes that I realized that she might be the famous author of the book, Respect The Spindle.
I failed to take off my shoes -really a faux pas, since it was a truly wonderful spinning wheel. I am just not ready for an accelerator. I asked the price of his book charka, but it was too much for me right now. Maybe I am not ready to spin cotton anyway. I asked if his spinning wheels could be set to spin very slowly, and I was disappointed to learn that a book chakra must spin fast & has an accelerator wheel.
I had a close encounter with a live cicada, my first ever. I always wanted to see where the sound of summer comes from. I made it home in two hours with lots of new ideas, mainly about growing flax. I hope to grow a linen shirt someday.
So it seems that I have met two of the three fates. I met Habetrot, and saw Abby Frankmont... Who will be the third spinner?
