How you dress your windows is an important piece of your overall design and a lot of thought should go into the style and fabric used for your bedroom window treatments.

How do you know which window treatment is right in your bedroom?

There are 3 basic types of window treatments that can be used alone or in combinations. Here?s some tips on these basic types and what style of room you might choose them for.

Curtains and Drapes

Curtains and drapes are a style of window treatment that most of us can recognize but there?s many variations on this old standby. If your bedroom design is simple, you might choose just plain sheers as these will go well with many themes including a romantic theme, a modern theme and anything in between.

Valances can be used to soften the top of the window. They are great if you don?t want to cover up a great view but also don?t want the window to look too bare. Typically valances are made from fabric but you can build them form wood and decorate them with an aged or stencilled paint to go with your Tuscan or French country design. Fabric valances can go with almost any bedroom decorating theme depending on the fabric you choose and can be used in conjunction with sheers to give you a bit of privacy.

Drapes are an elegant bedroom window treatment. If you have a romantic, French or Victorian theme some heavy drapes in rich fabrics can transform your bedroom into one fit for a queen. Heavy drapes look best on tall windows, but if you short squatty windows like most homes built in the 60's - 80's don?t let that deter you from using great drapes. You can always just keep them closed to hide the window behind and no one will ever know the difference!

Wooden Shutters and Blinds

Indoor wooden window blinds are a great way to add privacy to your bedroom and can be used alone or with curtains, drapes or valances.

There are 2 styles of shutters - plantation shutters and café shutters.

Plantation shutters cover the whole window and have louvers which can be opened and closed to let light in or provide privacy. These shutters go great with a plantation style look, a country look or a coastal cottage look.

The café shutters are the kind that cover only the bottom half of the window and swing open to let light in. These also look nice in a country or beach style bedroom and are perfect for a Paris apartment style as well.

Fabric Blinds

Fabric blinds add a nice touch to any bedroom and can be decorated and embellished with whatever you want. Fringe, pom-poms and ribbon are just a few of the great ways to make these bedroom window treatments stand out.

Roman blinds work well for childrens rooms and informal styles such as cottage or beach style decor. These shades fold up to expose the window during the day and roll down at night.

Festoon blinds are puffy with lots of fabric. They are quite ornate and work best in a romantic style bedroom such as a Victorian, French or Italian motif. Festoon blinds look best on wide windows and might not be good for small rooms as they can tend to be a bit overwhelming.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.bedroom-designs-and-decorations.com where you can learn more about popular bedroom decorating styles.

Lets start right at the beginning:

Step ladders: Make sure you have a steady pair of steps not to short so you over reach. Your arms will drop of before you have taken your first lesson in how to hang curtains. Not to tall that you cannot reach the window comfortably without leaning out to the side to hang curtains throwing you off balance.

Curtain hooks for standard pencil pleat curtain tape

Curtain hooks Again make sure before you start that you have enough of the right kind of curtain hooks.Light curtains will be fine with standard plastic hooks.

Medium weight curtains use nylon hooks, stronger than plastic. They will flex without breaking.

Heavy curtains use metal nickel hooks, they are bit fiddly to handle they all stick together the box. Just like the Chinese puzzles I had as a child.

Curtain hooks for bucram headed curtains

You will need what are called "pin hooks" simply because they have a sharp pin which pierces through the fabric and bucram (not sure checkout my site) on the back of the curtain header. This kind of heading makes for the best looking curtains. As always the best all ways costs that bit more.

An extra pair of hands

When you are learning how to hang curtains large or heavy it is very useful to have someone standing at ground level holding the curtain taking the weight. This enables you to hang the curtain onto your track or rod with ease.

How many hooks will you need ?

Well for curtains with standard pencil pleat tape you will need a hook every 4th pocket.

For bucram headed curtains you will need 1 for every pleat or goblet and one for each end.

Preparing your bucram headed curtains prior to hanging.

The good news other than putting in the pin hooks setting them down 1/2 inch from the top of your curtain. there is no more prepping to do. You just have to learn how to hang curtains and dress them properly.

prepping your pencil pleat curtains prior to hanging:

Standard pencil pleat curtains to start you will need to gather the tape on the top of your curtains. You do this by pulling out the 3 cords in the back of the curtain tape. To start pull the cords out of both ends of the curtain tape and tie them together in a firm knot.

There are 2 reasons for this 1. It stops you pulling the cords completely out of the tape (not a good start when learning how to hang curtains). 2. It keeps the cords together on the end that you pull the cords out to gather your curtain.

Then continue to pull the cords out. Simple tip on gathering your curtains. Take one set of knotted cords and hook over a door handle or some other fixed object. Then use one hand to hold the curtain tape and with the other hand start to pull the tape away from the door handle. You will see the heading on your curtain start to pleat.

How wide do you curtains need to be ?

Next check what half the width of your track or rod measures. Lets say your track is 100 inches long. You half this to 50 inches, then add on 2 inches to allow your curtains to comfortably meet in the middle when hanging. So the finished width that you want to gather each of your pair of curtains is 52 inches. The more you learn how to hang curtains, the more this becomes second nature.

Before you hang curtains.....stop and check!

Before you start to hang your curtain you need to lay your curtain down on a table or the floor and check the gathered width is about right. Then if to narrow then pull out the tape a little. If to wide then gather in the tape a little more.

what about the surplus cord ?

Finally sorting out all that surplus cord and evening up the pleats in the tape. DO NOT CUT THE CORDS !. The best solution is to bundle the cords up by wrapping them around all your fingers then tie a slip knot around the bundle. This allows you in the future to alter the header tape should you want to.

Once the cords are sorted out turn the curtain over. You need to look at the pleats and try and even them out. Just do it roughly at this time because when you come to hang them the pleats will move a little.

Last job before hanging your curtains

All most there, before you can hang your curtain you have to put the curtain hooks into the pockets on the back of the tape. On most standard pencil pleat tape there are 3 pockets top, middle and bottom.

How to hang curtains from a rod or pole

If hanging under a rod or pole put your curtain hooks in the top pocket. Also note the number of rings on your rod or pole. This determines the number of hooks you put in the curtain tape. As a rule of thumb you use less hooks on a rod or pole than on a curtain track. On a track put a hook ever 4th pocket and on a ror or pole every 6 to 8 pockets.

Hanging from a track ?

If hanging from a curtain track then put your curtain hooks in the center or bottom pocket pocket. this allows the curtain to cover the track when closed. To decide which pocket to use try one and see what your curtain looks like hanging. If your happy then great do the other curtain. If not happy move the curtain hooks up or down to suit.

The 1st step when hanging

A lot of people say you should always start hanging your curtains from the ends of the track or rod and work towards the middle. I Disagree, I say you should always start from the middle and work outwards towards the ends. The reason I advise you do it this way is because if you have

too many gliders on your track or too many rings on your rod you can easily remove them from the ends of your track or rod. Where if you start from the outside in to the middle the surplus gliders or rings are locked in the middle of your track or rod. Meaning you have to unhang your curtains to remove them. Not much more now and you will have the basics on how to hang curtains.

Why do some advise to start from the middle ?

The reason is on some tracks and rods, but mostly the corded kind. They have what are called overlap arms. These are short arms made of metal or platic with holes in for the last couple of curtain hooks on each leading edge of your pair of curtains (edges that meet at center of your window). Theses overlap arms allow one curtain to pass and overlap the other curtain by 2 or 3 inches. Thus giving you total privacy.

So what's the big problem ?

So where's the problem ? the problem is that these arms are not very strong. This means when you start to hang a medium to heavy curtain. Especially without someone carrying the weight they sag and twist or break completely.

Avoiding the problem !

So how do we avoid that when hanging from the center of the track or rod and working outwards. Very simple really, if you need 2 hooks to go in the overlap arm then count in to the 3rd hook and hook this into the first real glider or ring. Leaving the 1st and 2nd curtain hooks to just hang in space. continue hanging your curtain working from the middle outwards. That's how to hang curtains my way (the best way obviously "wink")

Then once you have reached the ends of your track or rod (removing any surplus gliders or rings). You go back to the middle and hook in the last couple of curtain hooks into the overlap arms. So avoiding putting to much weight on them.

Well I hope you have picked up a few "Tips" on how to hang curtains. This is just the first stage. Next is the "Dressing" of your curtains.

Lee Stevens From Window treatments Made easy

http://www.window-treatments-made-easy.com

Luck is where the crossroads of hard work and opportunity cross.

Designing your rooms around an ethnic theme can be exciting and fun and allows you to bring elements of other cultures and distant lands into your home. You can be more daring in your approach to colour and with such a wide variety of textures and patterns available, this can collectively add a whole new dimension to your interior design project. Unusual artifacts from different cultures can work very well as focal points in a room and as there are no hard and fast rules to stick to and because there are so many variations, you can go beyond the usual or traditional to portray a style that is not only beautiful, it is unique.

So what do we mean by ethnic?

Ethnic basically means native or indigenous people from a particular area so in relation to Interior Design it means to bring the natural elements that are representative of whatever culture, land or peoples you choose to portray into your own home to define your space.

Naturally the world is your oyster as they say so there are countless cultures to choose from, all you have to do is bring a particular ensemble of colours, patterns, materials and artifacts together to create a "look" that is recognisable and distinctive. What about a Mediterranean flavour, Native American Indian symbolism, or perhaps Tibetan Buddhism? Popular themes include African, Mexican, and Asian but you can go with whatever inspires or appeals to you. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

African Theme

Think of Africa and all that it conjures up in your mind, the landscape, the sounds, the smells, the colours, the mood, and then if you try to pick out the key points, what would they be? Colour schemes might include earthy colours like green, beige, browns and tans, set off with orange and splashes of red. Think about floor and wall coverings, natural substances would probably work best. Finishing touches can include wall hangings, African artifacts, drums, rugs, African fabrics and prints, animals made of stone, clay or wood, ceremonial masks hung on the wall, brightly coloured African bowls and pots, and so on.

Mexican Theme

What does Mexico mean to you? Perhaps desert colours with sandy tones, beige and khaki, along with reddish, rustic colours and hues. Blankets and woven fabrics in bright colours, perhaps terra cotta pots and bowls, pine wood is popular for furniture. Artifacts can include symbols of the South West or from the Spanish influence, or from the Aztecs, Mayans and other ancient civilisations, all of which can add an interesting and authentic Mexican look and feel.

Asian Theme

There are many variations within an Asian theme but two quite popular ones are Japanese and Chinese. Japanese themes tend to lean towards a more minimalist look and have a tranquil and peaceful feel. Consider a futon and using screens to get that Japanese ambiance. Colours tend to be natural and objects from nature often feature as focal points, for example, smooth stones and pebbles, water fountains and bonsai trees. Chinese themes on the other hand might involve brighter and bolder colours, lanterns, dragons and other mythological creatures, artwork depicting the traditional people colours and landscapes and Chinese handwriting.

How to get started

Once you have established which particular ethnic culture appeals to you, browse through books and magazines and the Internet to get ideas that will spark off your own imaginative flair. Identify what elements go together to make up that particular look or feel that you want to create.

Consider the walls, ceilings and floors carefully as this will provide a base for you to work from and then you can add in the details to finish it off. For example, is the texture and appearance of the walls and ceilings rough or smooth? What floor covering is appropriate, should it be wood, stone, tiles or carpets? Will rugs and mats make a difference and if so what are they made of? Are the windows better suited to drapes, blinds or shutters? What style of furniture works? What about plants, motifs, pictures and wall hangings?

The theme you adopt and the way that you choose to portray specific elements of that theme is entirely up to you and your imagination, the end result will be your own unique interpretation of a culture or a place and you will have added a touch of the exotic to your home.

David McEvoy is an expert in interior design. If you are looking for a leather sofa to give the finishing touches to a newly decorated room then please come and visit our site http://www.leathersofa.uk.com/

Well, it seems my brother had been keeping great great granddad's old spinning wheel - I had forgotten the box that it was in when I left the homestead, and he had been storing it for me. After reading the last piece I did on spinning wheels, he must have read it and remembered he had it -and got it out in the mail to me - because it arrived a week or so afterwards:

It's missing some pieces, but there's a good majority of it still there. The legs and pedal are gone, and it's missing the two pieces that hold the bobbin/axle.

It's an interesting piece to me on several counts... First, it was made by great great grandad... Second, it's a study in wooden machinery - everything has a purpose and yet it's still elegantly constructed. Third, it's an example of true frontier craftsmanship. I'm not sure of the exact date, my best guess would have been somewhere near the 1870 to 1890 range, in the Dakotas. This would have been made with the most meager set of tools, and quite far out in the country... I think I remember reading the nearest flour mill at the time was a full day away.

Parts of a Spinning Wheel

To have a discussion about the construction of the old wheel above, it would probably help to review just what the parts are called... I got much of this information off of various web sites, including The Joy of Handspinning, which is a wonderful resource for the enthusiast - I'm more interested in the construction, but that doesn't do you much good if you don't know how the thing works!... I'm using dad's wheel, which is a replica of the old one I'm looking at:

Tension Knob: A threaded knob, turned to raise or lower the bobbin and flyer assembly thusly reducing or increasing tension on the drive bands. Maidens: The upright posts that hold one end of the bobbin and flyer assembly Flyer Whorl: The pulley that drives the flyer - it has several different diameters so different speeds can be achieved Flyer: The U-shaped piece with hooks - the hooks are there just so the fiber can be spooled evenly onto the bobbin. This is what spins the fiber. Bobbin: A spool that collects the spun fiber Orifice: Where fiber is fed into the wheel as it is spun Drive Bands: Twine or string that drives the flyer whorl from the fly wheel Mother of All: The upright piece that holds up the tension knob, bobbin, and flyer Fly Wheel: The main drive wheel - the large wheel that is powered by the treadle Footman: Hard to see in the photo above, it's behind everything- it's the wooden piece that connects the treadle to the fly wheel Treadle: the foot pedal at the bottom

 

It's made from at least three, but more likely four distinctively different woods, from what I can see - and I think you can tell somewhat in the top photo. I'm not positive of the exact species, but from my experience with wood and my knowledge of the trees native to the area in which it was made, my best guesses would be birch or elm, maple, and basswood or poplar. I will get into where each was used as I deconstruct the thing.

Metal pieces would have been difficult to fabricate and expensive to purchase, so their use was kept to an absolute minumum. Could he have bought the metal pieces, or had a machinist make them for him? It's a possiblity. The pieces could have been ordered via mail order and shipped to the closest dry-goods store... yet they do all show at least some amount of fabrication. That eveidence could just be the technology of the time showing through, however - I'm just not qualified enough to say.

The only metal pieces are the axle/treadle drive on the fly wheel, the metal hooks on the spinner/flyer, and the axle for the flyer/flyer whorl assembly. The metal reinforcement on the flyer (the U-shaped piece in the photo below) shows signs of hammering to shape, and is riveted in place with metal pins and is surely of his own making.

The part that would have probably been the most difficult to make would have been the axle for the bobbin/flyer assembly... It appears it was made from something else, and made to work. I'm not exactly sure what it would have originally been had he fabricated it - it might even be two pieces, I can't really tell. The center was drilled out from the end and from the side to create the orifice that allows the fiber to be fed through it.... Both holes are off center, and show some evidence of being drilled and filed by hand.

You can see the orifice on the axle of the flyer on the right in the above photo, where the fiber is fed into the wheel. The far end of the axle in the photo above has a small taper to it - and is also threaded to hold the bobbin and flyer whorl on. It looks to me like the tapering was done by mounting the bolt in a wood lathe and tapering it using a file while turning. Fine metal work would have been difficult on the prairie in those days... and this is one of the things that lead me to believe this piece was at least partially fabricated by old great great granddad.

The bobbin (on the left in the above photo), the flyer, and the flyer whorl are all made from a very dense, close-grained wood - my guess is maple, though it could be just about anything of a similar nature. It needed to be, as the walls of the pulleys on them as well as the U-shape of the flyer makes using a strong wood imperative. The bobbinis made from a single piece... You can see by the breaks that it was made from a straight piece of about 3" round wood. The hole the axle slides through goes all the way through the bobbin, obviously - my best guess as to how this was made would be to first drill the hole through the rough blank - then mount the blank in the lathe and turn the bobbin to its final dimension. This would assure the axle hole would be centered on the bobbin. The far end of the bobbin is actually the first pulley you would use as part of the flyer whorl assembly - you see it in the next photo and the one two down that shows the whorl in it's place.

Here you can see the far end of the bobbin and the leather "bearing" that the axle is pushed into (the flyer whorl is not in this photo - it would take up the space between the bobbin and the adjuster piece the leather bearing is pressed into):

Both ends of the axle were mounted in leather bearings... but unfortunately the maiden that holds the closer end was missing on the original. Using another wheel made by granddad's brother, he fashioned the maiden with a leather bearing similarly to how that wheel was constructed:

You can see that it was simply a thick chunk of leather, glued into the maiden. This allows for the bobbin assembly to be easily removed from the wheel, simply by turning the maiden. There's not a lot of pressure on these bearings so they function quite well (as evidenced by dad's copy), and the leather would simply have been replaced as it wore out. Lubrication, if any, would have been tallow or beeswax.

The flyer whorl is made with two different sized pulleys so you can adjust the speed of the flyer - faster for more twists per inch in your yarn, and slower for fewer. More twists made for a stronger thread - but took more raw fiber. Fewer produced more "fluffy" yarns, good for sweaters and the like.... at least that's what I think - I have no experience spinning my own yarn. I still have the flyer whorl for the original, though unfortunately only half of it - but it does show how it is constructed pretty well:

You can see the differing diameters of the pulley to allow the flyer to spin at different speeds depending on where you placed the drive bands. The bobbin spins freely on the axle so is independent of the flyer whorl.  It is driven by its own pulley on the end next to the whorl that is a slightly different diameter - this is so the bobbin would spin at a different speed than the flyer.  Otherwise the yarn would only spin in place - with the different speed it slowly spools onto the bobbin as you feed more fiber into the orifice.

This is known as a "Scotch Brake"...  it basically means the yarn spools quite slowly onto the bobbin, while being twisted (for strength) many, many times for each single time it spools on the bobbin - which is the major function of the wheel.  It is this twisting that gives the yarn it's strength - without it, it would simply pull apart.

A good spinner feeds fiber into the orifice at a steady rate, thusly avoiding thinned out or lumpy yarn that is strong enough to knit.  More twists per inch results in a thinner, stronger thread - fewer provide fluffier, more insulating yarn.

The drive bands would have been simple twine or leather strips, or possibly even yarn - it didn't need a great deal of force to twist the fiber, so grip wasn't terribly crucial - speed was.

You can also see the tensioner knob assembly in the photo above at the top of the aptly named "Mother of All". It's broken as well, but it shows how it was made... A threadbox would have been pretty standard fair in most shops of the time, so that's not too surprising to find. It still works quite well, even after being exposed to the elements for many years.... The Mother of All is broken here as you can see in the photo above and below, but again at least we can see what it looks like:

The Mother of All is so aptly named as it is the main structural element of the wheel - everything pretty much hangs off of it. It, along with the maidens and most of the spindle work (with the exception of the spokes in the wheel) are made from a hardwood I would say is either elm or birch - it's hard to tell exactly as the wood is aged so. But those were common woods used in local furniture of the time - especially turned furniture. Oak was available and used extensively for standard casework, but wasn't preferred for turning because of it's open grain and it's tendency to tear out. I would imagine the elm or birch was riven and turned green, much in the fashion of windsor style chairs, and wedges were used to fasten the tenons to the half-moon shaped base (which I think was made of either poplar - but could be basswood)... There would not have been any kilns in the area, any dried lumber would have been air-dried.

Which brings me to the fly wheel, the most prominent piece of the spinning wheel, has some interesting construction methods. The outer wheel was constructed from four separate pieces. The wheel is made what I think is basswood, though it could be poplar, I suppose... both are plentiful in the area. There are a couple ofreasons that basswood would appropriate here. First, a lighter weight wheel would be easier to spin. Women using these wheels would often spin for many hours on end, for many days in a row... ease of use was paramount in their design. Second, basswood is a very easy wood to work... Mounting a wheel this size and turning it in a treadle lathe would have been quite a task... the easier one could make the task, the better. Third - since these wheels didn't carry a load, like say maybe a wagon wheel would, there would be little or no structural stresses on them, so basswood met the bill.

The pieces for the outer rim were first assembled before they were turned using splines and wooden pegs to hold them in place. You can see here where one of the pegs was placed too far out and was turned into:

The outer wheel itself was not constructed in the same manner as a wagon wheel - where the spokes have tenons that mount into the outer wheel - for the reasons mentioned above. It was first assembled and then turned without the spokes - they were added afterwards. Here you can see one I've pulled out:

After the main hub was turned, the spokes were made to fit inside the outer rim, then holes were drilled through the rim into the spokes - and a wooden dowel was driven in to hold the spokes in place. There just one problem with that - how do you make sure the hub is centered in the outer rim? Well - my best guess is that the hub and spokes were made first. The hub first, then the spokes, which could then be glued into the hub. The hub could then be mounted on a temporary axle and turned, allowing you to mark the end of the spokes in the same location as you turned the hub. The outer rim could then be turned to match this dimension... It's just an educated guess, mind you - but the best I can come up with given the circumstances.

As for the hub, it's one piece, with an axle that mounts into the adjacent spindles thusly:

The far side of the axle has an offset that attaches to the footman, which then is attached to the treadle. And yes - at the lower left of the hub in the photo above, that is a knot... As a matter of fact, it continues through to the other side:

Why would he have used a piece with a knot like that in it, you might ask? I would put forth that it was a matter of convenience... As I mentioned above, a lot of the wood used for the contruction of this wheel would probably have been worked green. The wheel would have had to be dried wood though. Most likely that meant that it was was harvested from already dead wood - possibly even seasoned firewood. There wasn't storage space available for storing wood while it dried... The house they lived in would probably have been the size of your living room and housed 5-7 people... The barn would have been similarly small was soley for livestock. The shed that served as a shop would have been more like a lean-to, perhaps with a pot-belly stove if the owner was well-off. So dried wood was a luxury most couldn't afford, but for the wheel it would have been necessary as green wood would have shrunk and rendered the wheel useless. So it's my guess it came from whatever was available - and since it didn't need to be all that strong, it wasn't a problem structurally. Also, I should mention that the knot would not have been this pronounced when it was made - this particular wheel was exposed to the elements for many years, so has weathered quite a lot. Originally, it would have been a very tight knot.

About all that's left is the base, legs, footman, and treadle - and all I have of those is the base... The base is made of poplar, it appears. I remember hearing the half-moon shape was a sort of trademark of his, but I'm not sure of this... compared to the other his brother did later, its a unique feature and was supposedly preferred by the people who used them as they were stronger. I do recall hearing that this makers' work was highly prized by those who received it, at least within the area he lived.

I may restore this old wheel someday - no, it will never be in working order again, but I may try to get it just so it is all in one piece and has all of the parts, just for display. I doubt it's worth much to anyone but me - but it sure is fun to have around to look at and to study, to give one appreciation for the original maker and the methods and material he used in creating it.

The maker, my great-great granddad, was a very adept turner, furniture maker, and woodoworker. He used green wood quite a bit, as I think can be seen in another of his works which I will show just for reference - a crib made of elm:

It appears he also used steam to bend wood, as you can see - obviously a very industrious fellow for someone truly out in the sticks... This crib was used all the way into the 1960's as I recall... It's been retired for obvious reasons since then, but still remains in the family, well over a century after it was made.

 

Though it does show a little of the environment I grew up in - these were the first thing I thought they were singing about the first time I heard that song...

No, I'm talking about the real thing, which are used for making yarn from raw materials such as wool or cotton:

This one is an antique, made sometime in the later half of the 1800's, and was built by the brother of this man - my great great grandfather:

Jon Vium (my great great grandfather) was well known for his handmade spinning wheels, and he made dozens - if not hundreds - of them that he sold to neighbors and at market.  He was an avid turner, and used a treadle lathe.  He lost his leg when using an adze to flatten some birch - he missed and hit his foot.  This was far out in the sticks, so doctors were several days away at least.  A member of the family was sent to retrieve the nearest doctor, but by the time he was able to get there gangrene had set in.  The amputation took place on the kitchen table, and the sterilizing agent and anesthetic used was whiskey...  There's more, but suffice to say not many can say they have it so tough today.

Even after losing his leg, he continued turning - with the treadle lathe - until his death.  I used the above picture of a whell his brother made because while there may be some of his spinning wheels remaining, I don't know where they are...  There was one that had sat outside for many years, and though it was heavily weathered and missing pieces, dad was able to create a reproduction of the wheels that granddad made using it as a reference along with the wheel pictured above - here's  his version, made in maple:

 

Dad was very proud of his recreated spinning wheel.  It's as close a copy as he could come up with given what he had to start with.  Here's a different view:

Spinning wheels are literally spin fibers such as wool (and other materials) into yarn for use in knitting.  I don't think I can remember my grandmother when she wasn't halfway through another knitted quilt - she was prolific.  She made hundreds of them... I still have several myself that she hand knitted - but she usually bought her yarn at the store in the later half of her life... though I remember telling her showing my mother how she would use the spinning wheel when she was younger - it was on a wheel much like these.

 Fibers first need to be "carded", where a pair of "carders (wooden handled planks with a series of metal combs are used to literally comb the fibers straight - here's grandmother's pair, with a "rolag" of wool started next to it:

 

I won't go too much into the process of spinning yarn, but if you are interested there are other sites more with more experienced information than my own...  including http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/ and some videos on YouTube.   Basically, the fiber is combed straight and rolled up into a "rolag" like above, then one end is mounted in the wheel.  Once you start spinning the wheel, it pulls on the fibers as you feed it, and it twists them at the same time, like a rope at the same time spooling them onto a bobbin.   Twisting makes the thread stronger by intertwining the individual fibers into one continuous thread that you can't pull apart without a good amount of effort. 

My uncle was so impressed, that he took dad's wheel and made his own version - his in walnut: 

These are built as closely as we know to the originals great granddad made, and both of them work - as they have been used.  But - not much, I think... just enough to prove they work.   Most people these days don't knit, much less spin their own yarn anymore - but as with anything, there are still a few out there who are continuing the craft.

Most of the parts for each are turned on the lathe...  These wheels were made using a jig and a router, though originally it would also have been turned on the lathe using a face plate and jig.  The string you see around the wheel is the drive belt...  it rides in one of a series of grooves directly above the wheel - each sized differently so different speeds can be used.  The higher the speed, the more twists per inch are produced on the yarn.

 This particular style of wheel is known as a "castle" wheel, which was popular for those who want to travel with the wheel, or have just a small amount of room for it - the latter of which would have been the case for most of my ancestors.  The houses were not large, so if something could be made to take up less space, the better.

These wheels are an exersize in functionality and design - they are beautifully designed wooden machines that are truly an art form.  I've always been drawn to them, as they are the most aproachable tool - they look like some sort of fancy furniture, but were one of the basics of life not so many years ago, when people used them to make their own fabrics, sheets, blankets, and clothing.  There wasn't a Walmart on the corner, and if there was they couldn't have afforded it anyway.  Their only choice was to literelly make their own - well, everything, almost...  One simply has to respect that sort of independence.   There are modern makers who have updated the design to work better and use modern technology (ball bearings!) - but most of the modern incarnations seem soulless to me, lacking that part of them that I see as art.

When I was younger, I always wondered how such a cool song could have been about a spinning wheel...

Blood Sweat, and Tears - Spinning Wheel

What goes up must come down spinning wheel got to go round Talking about your troubles it's a crying sin Ride a painted pony Let the spinning wheel spin You got no money, and you, you got no home Spinning wheel all alone Talking about your troubles and you, you never learn Ride a painted pony let the spinning wheel turn Did you find a directing sign on the straight and narrow highway? Would you mind a reflecting sign Just let it shine within your mind And show you the colors that are real Someone is waiting just for you spinning wheel is spinning true Drop all your troubles, by the river side Catch a painted pony On the spinning wheel ride Someone is waiting just for you spinning wheel is spinning true Drop all your troubles, by the river side Ride a painted pony Let the spinning wheel fly

 

Of course - when I read the lyrics, I realize that the song is really about a homeless guy in a Mustang...

 

When we started Woodworking Magazine, one of the things we definitely wanted to include as part of the fabric of the publication were quotations about the craft that made us laugh or think.

And when we launched our first issue in March 2004, there was no doubt or discussion about what quote would be emblazoned at the top of the first page:

Brown, who died June 1, is in my estimation the most influential writer on handwork of this generation. His columns in Britain’s Good Woodworking magazine inspired thousands of woodworkers to attempt or even completely embrace handwork.

His columns were short epistles on topics philosophical, mundane or both. He might offer a recipe for bacon in one column, offer plans for a workbench in another and in a third comment on the sad state of woodworking where we have traded skill for speed.

Brown was at times crotchety in tone, other times apologetic (to turners in particular); but he was always the spokesman for anyone who wanted to take hammer in hand and try to build something – either fantastic or mundane – using hand tools.

Brown himself was a boatbuilder who was made obsolete by fiberglass watercraft. After spotting a primitive Welsh chair in a shop in Lampeter, as Brown put it: “It was like a vision. I had never seen anything that had made so instant an impression on me.�

And so he built a Welsh stick chair like the one from his vision. He began selling them. He began writing about them. “Welsh Stick Chairs� was published in 1990. It’s a short volume, but is one of my prize possessions. In it, Brown gives a concise history of the Celts and their furniture. Then a short history of his love for the craft. The remainder of the book is photos of Brown in action, building what he calls a “cardigan chair.�

I first encountered his column in Good Woodworking in the mid-1990s. Brown had begun writing for the magazine during issue 13, I believe, which was the November 1993 issue. It was called “The John Brown Column,� and discussed mostly chairmaking, but with all hand tools. His run of columns there ended 32 issues later with a condemnation of power machinery in June 1996.

After a year of respite, Brown returned to the pages of Good Woodworking in issue 58 and continued for a couple more years. The last column I have of his is from December 1998. He continued as a chairmaker for awhile but during the last decade, Brown turned his attention to studying art.

"The John Brown Column" – sometimes titled "The Anarchist Woodworker" – was so inspiring to me, it’s difficult to quantify. I think it’s best said that if I had to have only one hero in woodworking, it would be Chairman Brown.

Not only did his writing encourage my hand-work skills, he also inspired me as a chairmaker to the point where I even ventured into the Canadian wilderness to take a class in Welsh chairmaking from David Fleming, a Cobden, Ontario, chairmaker who is Welsh.

All this detail above might make me sounds a bit like a stalker, but I never met John Brown. It was one of my primary goals for the coming years, which I can now bitterly cross off my to-do list. My plan was to ask if we could reprint his columns in book form so they could receive the wide audience they deserve. That project might be in limbo now, but perhaps his heirs will be willing.

If you can get a copy of “Welsh Stick Chairs,� you certainly will get the flavor of his writing and wit. And if I have any luck, perhaps you’ll also get to read his columns and then understand the loss the world of handwork has suffered this week.

— Christopher Schwarz