The spinning wheel is its itself an exquisite piece of machinery.
My head daily bows in reverence to its unknown inventor.
Mahatma Ghandi
A few years ago we invited a Hutterite grandmother to our school. She's one of the few Hutterites who can still spin. She lives at a near-by colony and gladly came to demonstrate this lost skill. As her daft fingers worked at the wheel, our students stood round her, wide-eyed with wonder, watching the bundle of wool in her hands being spun into a spool of yarn. This was almost as magical as Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold! To be sure, soft, warm wool was like gold for our grandparents; more so than it is today, when we can easily buy stockings, mittens and gloves. Really, how often to we stop to think, when we wear woolen items, where they come from (beyond store), how they're made? I know I never do.
Today, if there's a spinning wheel left in a home, it's been relegated to collect dust in the basement or in the attic, or some other forgotten corner on the colony. A few years ago my sister, Elma rescued one such treasure from the basement of a friend. It now stands in the office of our house, in need of repair. When people see it, they're taken back in time, when things were much slower paced than today. When grandma would sit at the spinning wheel, humming to herself or telling stories to grandchildren, as she made sure there was wool around to keep the hands and feet of her family toasty warm.
Do you have any spinning stories to share?
I was inspired to start a new blog series, Treasures of Yesteryear, when someone sent me a message through the blogger contact form, asking me about Hutterite antiques. If you can think of such items I could feature, please send me a message or leave a comment. Thanks!
I have never spun wool, but I have washed, pulled and carded wool. There is something so relaxing about working with wool.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that way, Katie. My sister make dryer balls with wool, and just watching her sit and poke at a ball of wool with hooked needle is relaxing. I sleep with a wool comforter, and don't want any other. It's so soft and cosy.
DeleteI learned to spin in Berkeley in the mid-seventies, first on a drop spindle and then on a wheel. I still have an Ashford wheel, which was the most common kit wheel at the time, though it's not in working order any more, and I don't really know how to get it there-- and don't have time to think about it at the moment. But I loved spinning.
ReplyDeleteWhen I learned to spin my grandmother gave me her mother's spindles, made for her by my great-grandfather, I believe. She used to spin enough wool every year to knit him a couple of pairs of socks-- very very straight long staple wool that they brought with them when they came to this country. I still do not know exactly how these spindles were used-- my grandmother, who was basically a master of every needlecraft there is, did not know how to spin herself. They look like e.g. Egyptian drop spindles, with the whorl at the top, but a small one, with a very long shaft. My grandmother thought she somehow rolled them on her knee. I still have not been able to find out.
I love that your own family can still remember people actually spinning. Wool is such an amazing and valuable fiber! Today there are so many synthetics to effectively keep us warm (some a lot more comfortable than wool, too) but it's hard to imagine people getting along without it before those other things were invented. I'm curious, did the people in your family/colony spin anything besides wool?
Thanks for your interesting post. Rasqa. As far as I know, wool is the only thing that Hutterites ever spun. If I'm wrong on that, I'm hoping someone will correct me.
ReplyDeleteI have a wheel very similar to this that I have inherited from my grandmother. It was an anniversary gift that was purchased from a neighboring colony. It is in fairly good working order. It does need a few repairs but I love it. If you have any information on where I could find replacement parts that would be wonderful thank you for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteMolly, some time ago a guy from a Manitoba colony repaired spinning wheels. I don't know if he still does, though.
ReplyDeleteI recently purchased a Hutterite spinning wheel. I believe it's around 100 years old. I have it all cleaned up and functional. It still works! I hadn't heard about Hutterite wheels until I started research her origins. Glad I was able to save her.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Pegg. May I ask where you bought it?
DeleteFacebook Marketplace, it was in Saginaw, MI.
DeleteDoes your wheel have a flower on it? Trying to find the origin of mine and some suggested it might be made at a Hutterite colony
ReplyDeleteI can't remember ever seeing a flower on a spinning wheel. Where did you get yours from? It's possible that it originated from a Hutterite colony.
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