Issue #101 – July 2018

$6.00

• Gylland Spinning Wheels — Part One
• An Ernst Mechelke Spinning Wheel from Wisconsin
• The Marshfield School of Weaving Digital Catalog Project
• Old School Wool and Weaving Center

Description

Highlights From This Issue

In this issue we look at several ways that computer technology, which we all take for granted, makes it easier to study spinning wheels and other textile tools. International online communities allow comparisons of far-flung examples of a style of wheel. An expert from another country can provide genealogical information on wheel makers. A computer program offers a means to decipher barely legible marks. Database programs can compile digital records about an object so that its history is preserved.

Gylland Spinning Wheels — Part One

Karen MacEwan discovered that she had acquired a “Gyllandrokk,” a spinning wheel from Gylland in Norway. With help from the members of the Antique Spinning Wheel Forum on Ravelry she studied many examples and noted the distinguishing traits. Chris Nyborg from the Norwegian Institute of Local History provided genealogical information about the families of the wheel makers. Karen introduces us to these well-built wheels and some of the men who made them.

An Ernst Mechelke Spinning Wheel from Wisconsin

Having restored an orphaned wheel, Susan Hector wanted to decipher the name stenciled on it, but it was barely legible. With help from a program called Dstretch she could read some of the letters. But a happy discovery of another identical wheel with a clear mark led her to the maker, Ernest Mechelke of Wisconsin.

The Marshfield School of Weaving Digital Catalog Project

Mathilde Lind is developing a digital catalog for the Marshfield School of Weaving beginning with the objects they acquired from the former American Textile History Museum. She explains why she chose a specific software program and how this catalog will eventually be very useful to researchers.

Old School Wool and Weaving Center

Kathryn Wojciechowski explains how she came to establish the Old School Wool and Weaving Center in Truxton, NY.