(I'm paraphrasing from my post on Ravelry here so I don't have to type it all again.)
I knew I was going to come home with a spinning wheel. And I knew there would be more than one spinning wheel at Burlington today.
I was right on both counts. There were--nine spinning wheels at Burlington yesterday. (Technically, three were at my booth.) The first one I spotted as we drove in, a pretty, maybe walnut-hued Saxony missing the bobbin and flyer (of course) but with cute little orange painted rings around the wheel posts.
But we had to unpack first… so I waited, and at the very first moment I could, I ran on over to the booth with the Saxony. If it was reasonably priced (since it was missing pieces), I figured I could buy it and find a replacement bobbin and flyer. But the seller wanted $165 for it, and that was just way too much.
However, I knew there would be a Great Wheel as well, on the other side (where they all have been this year--it’s really interesting that they’re all appearing over there this year and not spaced out among the booths) and there was one, of course! It was missing a spindle, but not anything else. Looked to be in great shape. Had a date of 1835 carved into the table, along with a bunch of other carvings. If it’s there next month, I will try to get a picture. I didn’t see a maker’s mark, however, but I didn’t study it for long. The seller wanted $315, but later came down to $285. It was still there at the end.
The same seller also had a really nice large Saxony. Unmarked as far as I could tell. Kinda looked maybe Canadian to me, although I wasn’t positive. He wanted $215 for that one, which really wasn’t bad, since it seemed to have all the pertinent pieces in their proper places. (Say that five times fast!) Again, if that one’s still there next time, I might try for it, but then again, I might not.
My radar wasn’t done with me, however. Across from the Great Wheel and the Saxony was a small, dark Saxony missing the maidens, screw tension, and everything else. So it was the wheel, the wheel posts, the table, legs, and nothing more. I didn’t ask how much that one was. It made me sad. :(
However, I knew there was one more wheel. I zoomed across the fairgrounds (I am paying for that today), almost ran around the perimeter, and then--
I saw it.
(And I said a bad word, because I was right.)
Glorious just doesn’t cut it when you walk up a hill and see a 30” CPW in the wild, just sitting there waiting for you to take her home.
I think I might have gotten a little teary-eyed when I saw her. According to the seller, he and his wife had purchased her some 25 years ago, where she had sat in their house as a decoration until they decided on a change of furniture theme and decided that the spinning wheel had to go.
He had “done some research”, and checked prices for them (I am assuming he looked on ebay, although I’m guessing just for spinning wheels) because they couldn’t remember how much they’d bought it for and couldn’t decide on a price.
Well, the price they decided on was in my budget, and it took me about a quarter of a second to write the check.
As I was carrying her back to our booth, having spent my budget by 8:30am, I heard someone yell “That’s a big wheel!” behind me, but as I was concentrating on not dropping her, I did not turn around. Later, I discovered that it was cphilip from Ravelry who was set up right near us. :)
So anyway, I brought her back to our booth, gushing with pride and shock, and I set her down, and of course had my drive band material at hand, and some fiber, and of course had to spin. I attracted quite a few onlookers, including, much later, the seller who had sold her to me (I can only surmise he heard someone talking about someone spinning and decided to come and see if it was his former wheel.)
And then, aklittlebird (also from Rav) appeared, and we talked for a long time, and we managed to fit Alfred into her car, and Phil showed up too, and we talked some more, and then it quieted down a bit at Burlington, and I spun and spun and spun.
I think I am in love.
So I missed ‘Spin in Public Day’ by one day, but I don’t care. My girl and I were having quite a bit of fun today. Perhaps I’ll fill up that bobbin today… :)
And an addition:It's funny, sitting there at Burlington and watching people do double takes. At one point, I had six people standing there watching me. I almost felt like I was busking. I so wanted to put out a hat. ;) But it was funny. To quite a few people who commented, that was the first time ever they had seen a spinning wheel in action. So it felt good to sit there and show them a piece of history. And not to mention, but CPWs have a presence. So do Great Wheels. Kind of like dowager duchesses or something. People were literally standing there watching me for stretches of time. It was so funny. (In between asking me if it was for sale, of course.)
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