Thursday, January 31, 2008

Housekeeping??

Housekeeping is a fairly simple task to do daily, right? Not for me it isn’t. I would much rather be sitting at my wheel or loom than running a dust mop. If one doesn’t live in an ancient mud hut, run the vacuum around the rooms quickly on a daily basis, picking up and putting in a basket what does not belong in that room. Wash the few dishes and stack them to dry or stash them in the dishwasher. Start a load of laundry if necessary.

If you live in the ancient mud hut, like I do, it is just a bit more complicated. Run the spider-chaser duster around the edges of the ceilings, run the dust mop over the middle of the floors, and then move some of the dust around on top of the furniture. Gather into that basket everything that doesn’t belong in the room chosen for the “lick n promise” cleaning today.

My 100 year old adobe, ancient mud hut, is not air tight. I don’t have air conditioning, so the windows are open the three seasons of the year when it is possible. The wind blows; the adobes seem to shed dirt. The windows are open so dust devils fill the house with pure dirt on nearly daily basis. Not too much problem, just sort of keeping it to a minimum is all that is required.

The other problems with housekeeping are the little critters like clothing moths, silverfish, and carpet beetles. They must be removed!! We bring them home with every box and bag from almost every store we walk into. It is best not to bring boxes into the house. Open them out doors and bring in the contents!

Put all fleece from any source into a trash bag, tie it up tight and put it into the freezer for about three or four days. This won’t kill the eggs, but will kill any adults in the fleece. Take the fleece out on the lawn and shake it well. This should cause most of the insect eggs to drop out where they can hatch without eating your fleece. That should keep most of the critters out of the house.

I like aromatic herbs in little sachets all over the house. It not only makes the house smell nicer, it is environmentally friendly, and it chases all those unwanted critters elsewhere. They do not like the sharper more pungent smell. Chamomile, sandlewood, thyme, basil, sage, lavender, cloves, cinnamon, any of the herbs and spices with a nice pungent odor are just fine. Make up the little sachets from nylon net or silk netting. They take only a few minutes to run a couple of stitch lines. Tie the tops with a pretty ribbon. Spread these around on end tables, shelves, in small pretty dishes on tables, and on window sills.

I like to keep whole cloves in the pockets of my wool garments when they are hanging in the closets. Be sure to take them out before sending garment to the dry cleaners and replace them once the garment is home again. Lavendar makes any drawer smell especially nice.

Do not seal any natural fiber, fleece, yarn, or garment up in plastic. It must breathe! If it needs to be kept fairly dust free, place it in a pillow case and baste the end shut. This is death to loads of antique quilts whether made of cotton or wool. Also do not allow any of your fine fabrics to touch the cedar walls of the cedar chests. Get some archival or acid free tissue paper to line the chest with. The oils in the cedar wood will stain most fabrics and it is impossible to remove these stains.

We will spit-polish, to our white-glove sisters’ approval, when we run out of our stashes. The only thing that must absolutely be done daily is to oil your wheel on any of the moving parts so they don’t squeak! Chasing dust bunnies and spiders can really wait til next week, don’t you think?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

LISTEN!

I don't know who wrote this, I got it in an email a few years back. I have printed it out and have it framed on the wall in my office. I would wish that all our loved ones would just LISTEN!


LISTEN!


When I ask you to listen to me
And you start giving me advice
you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way
You are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to so something to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen! All I asked, was that you listen,
not to talk or do; just hear me.

Advice is cheap; 25 cents will get you both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.

And that I can do for myself; I'm not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself,
you contribute to my fear and weakness
.
But when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational,
then I can quit trying to convince you, and get about my business of discovering
what's behind this irrational feeling.

And when that's clear the answers are obvious and I don't need advice
Irrational feelings make sense when we discover what's behind them.

That's why prayer works, sometimes for some people.

Because God is mute and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things.
He just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
So please listen and just hear me.

And, if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn,
and I'll listen to you.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Fours

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dark Karo
1 cup butter
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups chopped pecans
1 tablespoon vanilla
Dipping Chocolate

Place sugars, Karo, butter, and 1 cup of cream in a large heavy kettle, bring to a boil and add remaining cup of cream slowly so boiling does not stop. Allow candy to brown a little but prevent burning by stirring often.

Cook until it forms a firm ball in cold water or to 238 on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; add the vanilla and pecans. Pour into a buttered pan. When cold cut in 1 inch squares and dip In melted dipping chocolate..

Makes about 5 pounds. I like to freeze the candy before dipping.

Do not make any substitutions other than nuts to this recipe. Use Butter and Whipping Cream.


These were one of the favorite candies produced in the Kipling Confectionary, opened in Roswell in 1907 and famous in the Southwest for its fine candy.

John Kipling, an Englishman, opened the business in 1907. Kipling Fours were well established as the favorite candy of all by the late 1920s. Kipling obtained the formula from itinerant candy maker Charles Walker from Trinidad, Colorado. It is recorded that over a ton of Fours were sold during the Christmas holidays in the mid-20’s.


Carmen Barbe and Anna Gill of Berrendo CowBelles in Roswell, NM submitted this recipe to Enchanted Eating, published by New Mexico CowBelles in 1982.

For more about New Mexico CowBelles: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-11581894.html

Monday, January 28, 2008

Spinning on the Great or Walking Wheel

Spinning on the Great Wheel takes a bit of adjusting techniques. First off, one needs to retrain their left hand if they are right handed. If they are left handed, they need to train their right hand to turn the wheel. Can you really walk, pat your head and rub your tummy all at the same time and explain what you are doing while doing it? That is what spinning on the Great Wheel is all about. It is a definite crowd attraction. Set the wheel up in a public place and you get all the attention from passersby you can want.

Getting the wheel set up and adjusted takes a really good eye. The wheel post must be at the correct angle for the drive band to work correctly and pull the whorl. This takes some minute adjustments to keep from throwing the band. You might have to shim the axel with leather to keep the wheel from wobbling. Then use Vaseline to grease the axel and leather liner. There needs to be a leather washer between the post and the wheel. This too needs a light coat of Vaseline. Sometimes there is a hole in the end of the axel for a keeper pin. This can be a large hair pin, a cotter pin (split pin) or a nail. If the Post isn’t set at the correct angle in the bed it will tend to spin off the axel.

Now setting the Mother-of-All correctly. If the mother-of-all isn’t snug on the post, it can cause a great deal of grief. It will turn and throw the belt. Snug it onto the post with leather shims. If necessary hit it with a rubber mallet to get it down tight so it doesn’t turn. Again use some Vaseline on the leather to keep it from drying out and getting hard. On the Mother-of All are the Maidens. These are the two posts that hold the spindle. The spindle may go through the posts or may be tied to it with string or leather. Both of my wheels have the simple spindle, so the drive belt goes around the simple whorl. They usually have several spinning notches in them. It really does not matter which of these notches the drive belt goes around as long as it doesn’t throw off the wheel.

Now, use beeswax on the drive line and on the rim of the wheel. It keeps the drive band pulling the wheel. No, I don’t use beeswax on my other wheels, either, but the drive band will slip if it isn’t waxed. I make my own drive bands for these wheels. Chain two, single crochet in first chain, chain one, single crochet in last single crochet for the length needed to go around the wheel and around the whorl. Wet this rough chain and tie it snuggly around the wheel and whorl. It will need adjusted, tightened, a couple of times, so don’t tie it off permanently at first. When it is ready to tie permanently, use the Weaver’s Knot and trim the ends close.

Quill, rhymes with Wheel, is a foundation bobbin on the spindle. These will allow you to take the singles off the spindle when you determine you have enough thread on them. I make them from a sheet of scrap paper. Standard notebook paper folded in half lengthwise then in thirds. Cut the papers, stack and cut off a corner about an inch in. Wrap these one at a time around the spindle so they are smooth with the point of the paper about an inch from the point of the spindle. Put on a tiny piece of tape to hold the tube. I will fill about 2 to 3 dozen of these quills in a day of spinning, so make plenty of quills. I put on a starter line of about 18 inches tying it loosely in the middle of the quill. A single half of a square knot will hold beautifully. These quills do not have a back on them, so I wind the thread on in an egg or nut shape rather than a cone shape as you would do with drop spindle, for instance.

Now we are ready to spin!! Holding the fleece to be spun with the starter line, spiral the starter off to the tip of the spindle. This is where the spin goes in to the fibers, with every pop here at the tip of the spindle. Watching the spin point just at the end of your fingers, you can see and feel the spin forming. When the wisped out end of the fleece has grabbed hold, draw back on the fleece, always watching the spin point, turning the wheel. You might want to give the wheel another turn or two at the end of the draw. You are coming off the tip at an angle half way between straight out and the tip . This gives the best results. You will be able to step back about three steps while doing the draw. You can go only as far as you can reach the hub of the wheel. Reverse the wheel, swinging the thread up to align with the bed of the wheel, reverse to forward again to wind the new singles thread onto the quill. When about six or so inches from the quill, spiral off the tip again to start spinning again.

Photos of my girls learning to spin on the Walking or Great Wheels are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/CactusPatchLamb/Spinners along with other spinners and their wheels.

A couple of good Youtube Videos on spinning are here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrrJLAXwUBU and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ha6g3WKW-s

Enjoy your spinning experiences.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Oiling and Waxing Spinning Wheels

Several people have asked me how to care for the wood in spinning wheels. Well, this goes right along with your fine wood dining table, china cabinet or any other piece of furniture that features fine woods. They are all made from trees, a renewable resource, cut down, sliced into lumber, refined into the fine furniture we all love. They all require care, polishing, oiling and loving.

Now, I happen to collect antique furniture. I inherited quite a mixture of different woods from antique to quite modern pieces, and have added some very fine and some very rough pieces to this collection. Decorators ask what shade of wood would we like in our rooms, Walnut?, Knotty Pine, Distressed Pecan?, Oak or Maple? in their many different shades? They would have a fit when viewing my great room! I have everything. I have Pine, Walnut, Oak, distressed Pecan, Rock Maple all jumbled in together. The one thing all these have in common is the need to be dusted, polished and waxed.

Our great, great grandmothers had only the choice of beeswax to make a nice shine on their furniture. Today we have about as many choices of polishing substances as there are bees in a bee hive. Some of the furniture I have brought home, like the Great Wheels were so old and worn they had little or no finish left on them. Some like the Moswolt Wheel are things of great beauty, lovingly cared for all their lives.

When I bring home a piece of wood furniture with out much finish left on it, I finish sanding it down, saturate it with linseed oil for several days, then hand rub Tung Oil blended finish into it’s surface. If I choose not to refinish it, I spray it with Orange Oil and buff with a soft cloth. For general purpose dusting and polishing, I like Beeswax and Orange Oil in suspension. There are the heavenly odors of the beeswax and orange to make my room smell good, but mostly that combination gives enough oil to the wood to preserve it and the beeswax lays down a protective coat and really nice shine. I pour the Beeswax and Orange Oil on the fleece side of the sheepskin, and coat the wood liberally and have at least one cup of coffee. I then go back and buff the wood with a soft cloth like worn out tee-shirts.

The one brand name of furniture polish I look for is Howard's. I can find it at most hardware stores that have a wood refinishing section or I can go to the woodworking supply stores to get it. I keep little scraps of sheepskin pelts to use for furniture waxing. I get these from making vests and other fancy stuff from sheepskins. Or I can get them from leather supply companies. Tandy Leather Company and Leather Factory stores may have these scraps available. You can also get these from saddle making shops. You just have to look to see what is available in your area.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Bitsy is a Pyrenees/Lab cross puppy. Found sleeping in a flower pot on the patio. She is about 2 months old here.
Opened the door and she woke up.
Posted by Picasa

How to Buy a Spinning Wheel

So you want to get a wheel? There are so many out there. How do you know what brand to buy or should you get a used one? All spinning wheels are lovely to look at. We’ve seen them sitting in antique shop windows, as decorations in living space layouts, and on ebay! They are featured in movies, TV programs, and in magazines. But which one should you choose? Should it be antique, gently used, or should it be new?

My first wheel was an Ashford Kiwi, a beautiful little basic wheel. These are very good beginner wheels. They are totally simple with scotch tension. My request to Santa was for one of the Traditional or Elizabeth wheels. With the advice of the shop owner, a spinner himself, Santa brought me the Kiwi, still in the box! Ashford wheels come as kits. They are made of birch and can be stained any color you might wish. Top this off with very clear instructions for putting them together and you have a really good project.

If you get a wheel by mail, it might not be the one for you. You should do some research, find the nearest yarn shop or spinning shop and go try out all the wheels in the shop. Just sit and treadle some for a little while. If there isn’t a shop near you, check for a Spinning Guild near you. See if they won’t invite you to a couple of meetings to spin on their wheels for a bit. Most guilds are looking for new members so are happy to have visitors.

If you are determined to have an antique wheel, ask the antiques store owner if you can minutely inspect the wheel he has in the window. Bring along a new cotton or linen drive band, an oilcan, and some fleece. You may have to replace the drive band and for sure you will have to oil the moving parts. Then spin a little fleece to see how the wheel reacts. If the wheel is like most I have seen, it will need some more repairs. This includes the little tab from the footman to the treadle. All that is needed is a new piece of soft flexible leather and a couple of tacks. On Walking Wheels you would need a new drive band and a small tube of Vaseline, the oilcan and your fleece.

There are bargains to be had, that’s for sure. Watch the ads in the newspaper, the message boards at the yarn and spinning shops, garage sales, and used furniture sales. You can find some great deals that way. The local spinning guilds usually have a sales list in their newsletters also. But a word of caution: Always tryout the wheel before laying down your hard earned dollars. If you purchase a wheel you can’t get along with, it will sit in the corner and collect dust and cobwebs for a few years before you put it in a garage sale or advertise it on maybe Ebay.

No way can I spin on my son’s Indian Spinner. He got a bargain on it from an older lady. He had tried the wheel, loved it and she said it was for sale. It has a heavy cast iron wheel in a rectangular frame. It’s a high production wheel and has a very heavy treadle. I cannot keep the wheel going round! So be warned that people do buy the wrong wheel and then regret it very much as it becomes a dust collector.