Happy spindles

 

He has made me drop spindles. They are unique and easy to notice they belong to me. The size, weight and form of the drop spindle impacts on spinning. These are for the students to try out drop spinning and discover which suits them best. 

Liinu

May I introduce Liinu? She is Ashford Joy 2 wheel spindle. As I told you I had passed my old ancient wheel spindle forward but I do have a wheel spindle. 😅

Liinu represents modern design. She has two treadles. She is a small girl but very practical indeed. At first sight you'd think she is just a toy which she is not. For sure she is a proper workforce!

COVID-19 has caused a knitting boom. It has also influenced on the fact that many shops have ran out of wheel spindles like Ashford Joy 2. Liinu is a new arrival and she has moved in recently.

I love her because she is small, flat and came with a back bag in which I can easily carry her around. She really doesn't need much space around.

I love to spin with Liinu.

Spinning around

The 1st anniversary with COVID-19 has passed by. At my work they banned contact lessons on the 13th of March 2020 and since that it has been banned, not banned and banned. Which means since November the 5th, 2020 adult group contact lessons have not been allowed to gather. The new date is until the 25th of April 2021. 

You know I started to study for the Master of Health Care on August 2018 at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. I graduated on October 2019. Sounds fast, we were given 3 years of time, but it was "just" updating my graduation to the next level from bachelor's to master degree.

After that I did 25 credits in education in November-December 2019 to start to update my pedagogical qualification. We were given 12 months of time to finish it but I did it in few months.

After that I started to study at the School of Professional Teacher Education in Oulu University of Applied Sciences. Again we were given 3 years of time to finish the studies but I am so done right now. 😆 Sounds fast again but you need to know I specialized on education already at my art & craft school studies and have been teaching for my living since 2007. So please, take care of your mental health and don't compare yourself to this if you need more time in your studies. I was fast because of my previous knowledge. 

Covid-19 has changed the world and is still changing it. Especially with my pedagogical studies I have been spinning around COVID-theme because it influences so much also on education. The result at the end is that in the future I will have online courses in physical exercise and crafts. Yes, in crafts too! 

Now, when my studies finally reach the final end and I am having (slowly) my free time back, I have been back to something I love. That's spinning!

I graduated from arts & crafts on February 2000. Before that I had learnt many skills, also how to produce my own wool and spin it. At the college I learn to spin by a wheel spindle and I used to have one. It was not so good because I bought it at second hand. It was stored in outside shelter. When it had stayed indoors for several months the wooden parts dried and the wheel spindle "lived on". It started to get unbalanced. Missing one wheel spindle didn't help and fixing it had been quite a trouble. That's why I sent my ancient wheel spindle forward to become a home decoration item. Since that I have been missing spinning.

The miss relieved a bit on 2017 when I visited The Spring Stitching & Knitting Show in London. I bought my 1st ever drop spindle there. It is SpinCity drop spindle. Because I bought it on 2017 and started to study on 2018 I have not had so much time to dive into the secrets of spinning by a drop spindle. We also had our woolly secret on 2014 which demanded more machinery help in wool production than spinning all those kilos by our own little fingers. We had the angoras until they got too old on 2018 and still have 10 kg left their fine angora wool which is going to the mill to be spun into yarn there. 

I did use the fibers I bought from London but since the begin of March 2021 I have been back on spinning and using SpinCity drop spindle. I am going to start drop spindle spinning courses on the next term. The first one will be on August 2021. That's why I am slowly making samples considering it. Back on 90's and early 2000 I was young and stupid and didn't save anything. Nor pictured anything. Not even the yarn I spun back then. I sold it at a craft street market to earn some money!

Before the time starting from January 2011, when I started this blog, it is quite difficult to find any pics from my crafts. It took me hours to find that first pic on this post where you can see my 1st wheel spindle! Happy I decided to start the blog back then on 2011 so now, after 10 years, I have it all stored here! 

PS. Notice the cards He has made for me around 1998!

What about Anne?

Those who have been reading my blog for a longer time, for sure, remember Anne of Green Gables. You know Anne belonged to my granny. I found Anne on 2016. Still Anne has secrets that has been fascinating my mind and I have not found answer. Until now...

First of all, I have been quite curious about Anne because she really is a treadle sewing machine who can embroider and has electric lights. More you think about it the more you start to wonder why on earth she has electric lights but no electric engine. I really have started to think Husqvarna Automatic 51A was a great heureka-moment of a human mind "Hey, let's put electric lights on it". And when the prototype was finished they stared at it at the factory very confused and finally said aloud "Why on earth we didn't include the electric engine?!!" 👀

During these years living and working with Anne, I have tried to trace her family tree. I want to know when she was born. I know she was born in Sweden but when was that and why she is such an extraordinary girl.

I've asked it even from the importer and manufacturer but had no other replies than "no questions" or "we don't know". I am not asking to solve out Anne's value to sell her. No, not at all, Anne is not for sale. I am asking just because I am a bit obsessed with my sewing machines. You know also Husqvarna C.B. lives here. (I am not quite sure about her yet. She was actually given to YoungLady. We still wonder what to do with its cabin table surface...) And also Helga still lives here and is doing just fine. They, Anne and Helga, share the duties. Helga is very tired of everything so she does easy tasks. Anne who loves to be alive and have a home and not to be forgotten does all the hardest work like when she helped out me with my fur coat. 

So, I have been asking here and there. No result. Until I joined in a social media group and asked if anyone knows anything about her. And wow, despite of these hard COVID-19 times I found helpful people and was told Anne was born on 1960. She is a flat bed version of Husqvarna Automatic 21A.

 When I heard that, I wondered why on earth they did both but then I had my heureka-moment. Of course! Electricity was not reachable every where all the time. But why exactly my granny chose 51A instead of 21A? Think about it where I live. The same region where also my granny lived. Despite she lived even more rural. Electric breaks were a daily life challenges especially on the winter season when the frost and snow did the damages and it may last weeks until the company got it all fixed, especially if the damage was in the wilderness (through which the lines run). Of course she chose treadle sewing machine. Anything else would have been irrational! You can always use a candle to give some light for your sewing but if the machine has electric engine you just can't use it when there's the electric break!

To thank these nice and helpful people in the group I took some more pics of Anne to show her table and basin in a proper way. I have noticed there's not much the famous internet can tell about Anne, so also that's why I share more pics for people who seek information. I think I have all the pieces of her. So, lets' dive into Anne's secrets!

Anne's table cover is in a good fit if you think she's actually 61 years old and have been in use for decades. But she could look better if she had not been placed in my granny's kitchen for decades. My granny also painted and did all kind of crafts. Most of the marks on Anne's surface are oil paint drops etc. and caused by granny's painting and drawing hobby.

From my previous blog posts (which I linked right on the begin of this post) you can see more pics about Anne, so here we go straight into the point.

Anne has actually a key and locks. I must confess I didn't realize this proper until now when I took these pics for this post! By the key you can open the table lid and drawers. Now I also realized Anne's key doesn't fit into the lock, deep inside. My dear husband opened the locks to see what was wrong. He found out the key is actually too big! He tried to squeeze it gently a bit but it didn't work. I wonder if Anne's key has interchanged.

Under the table, at the left side of Anne, are two supports

Anne's table lid has two "hooks" which fit into these supporters. When you place the lid on the left side of the table, the table turns out bigger.

Anne has three drawers. That helps a lot to keep her stuff in safe. I've made bags for her guide book and power line which I store inside the cabin with Anne.

I was actually taking this pic when I realized Anne has locks!

Anne's very important little things are stored in the original box which I keep in her drawer.

Anne's cabin has a hole and a cover. I usually keep the cover away, stored inside the cabin, because it is a bit loose. I fear it to drop down and dogs to chew it. I am not sure was the hole made up to be it easier to use the bobbin. 

I am so short that it is hard for me to reach the bobbin through the hole. Instead and much easier I reach the bobbin from upwards by my tiny hands.

The cabin has plenty of space. Anne fits in well with her belongings.

The drive band ends have been fastened to each other in an interesting way. When learning to use wheel spindle at art college I was educated 😄 to do it otherwise. But if you sew the ends to each other there are two risks:

1) it doesn't stay and breaks up again and again

2) the joint gets too thick and it makes a bouncing way when going around the wheel, that disturbs of course and causes challenges in working

Anne's left side stand.

Anne's right side stand and wheel.

Anne's wheel.

The Logo.

AAW Mittens No5

I designed and knit AAW Mittens No5 to match with AAW SingleClableSocks NO4. I used our faboulous AAW yarn (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool and 10% nylon) (100g = 238m).

I knit single cables to decorate the mittens and to make them match better with the socks. The socks and mittens form out together a warm pair for chilly weathers.