I received this book as a gift last week. It's a very cute, very Canadian book that'll get you singing to the old familiar tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas". (Substitute with the likes of "Four Calling Moose, Three Beaver Tails"...you get the idea!) The artwork is fantastic. The only thing that would have made it better, would be an alpaca or a spinning wheel in there somehow.
I found a new favorite thing....dangerous!
Do you know what this is? My friend Joanne dug it out from the basement of her gift store that she has sold.
It's a skein winder or wool winder. After a spinner has spun yarn onto the bobbin of their spinning wheel, they would then use this to make a skein (big loop) of yarn before washing or dyeing it. The new ones have adjustable arms so that after you have wound your wool, the arms collapse in a bit, so you can get the skein off.
This is my Quebec production wheel. At one time, many Canadian farmhouses would have had one of these kept busy spinning yarn for the family's clothing. I have to admit, it's not very productive in my house. I have a modern Lendrum double-treadle that I use as my working spinning wheel, and an electric spinning wheel that I would like to be more productive on. I never got the hang of this old wheel, and it may have been a bit warped when I bought it. It is a nice conversation piece and even though it's not being used, I take comfort that I am keeping it safe as an historical artifact.
2 comments:
Your Canadiana book was also featured on Canada AM last week. Great gift to receive.
Yes it is. My niece suggested buying for all the new babies, so that when they got to school, they'd sing this version instead of the traditional one.
I particularly like the picture of the RCMPs chasing the sled dogs to get their donuts back ;)
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