Little Red was made in Canada probably in the 1850s. She is a lovely
red color (hence the name) and her treadle held the imprint of the sole
of the foot of its previous owner. It was used so frequently, some of
the treadle's wood is worn away.
I found a woman to teach me to spin in North Conway, NH -- Mrs.
Roseanne Michaud -- with whom I made an appointment to be a student.
That lovely woman had hot soup and homemade bread waiting for me and we
became fast friends and, yes, I did learn to spin and went on to win
many spinning contests, most notably at the Merrimack Valley Textile
Museum in MA.
In 1976, I carried Red on my shoulder and walked through Boston,
dressed in colonial costume, mop cap and all, on my way to demonstrate
textile making in colonial days at various venues. I was also a
favorite subject for newspaper stringers and had a color photo of me on
the front page of the <MI>Dallas Sun Times<D>. Imagine!
Now spinning is not just sitting down at a wheel and spinning. It
involves many steps: finding a raw fleece, "skirting" it, grading the
different parts -- back, belly, legs; carefully washing it; and then
there's the "carding," done on wooden paddles covered with fine wire.
Carding arranges all the fibers horizontally and when all is smooth, you "roll" the fleece off into "rolags." Then you can spin.
Eventually, I found and restored a flax wheel (Little Red is a treadle
wheel used specifically to spin wool). Flax is a whole different animal
(joke)!
Flax is a plant that, after going through many processes, is spun into
a thread that eventually is woven into linen. I can and do spin flax
but only for demonstration purposes.
My first love is wool and Little Red.
I have since collected and restored many spinning wheels on which I do
spin. The latest addition is Little Yellow -- a relative of Red's. Also
a nifty spinner.
I have "walking" wheels, courting wheels, double treadle wheels and all
sorts of spinning-related tools, winders and such, many of which are
made by the Shakers.
These days I use primarily Vermont fleeces, specializing in natural-colored ones, blacks, browns, grays.
I will be demonstrating spinning at the Artisans' Gallery on February
20 and 21, from noon until 4 p.m.
Barbara Stratton-Appleton lives in Granville.
