(I’ve moved this entry’s publishing date up just for Spoon – he sent me these links – which are really great woodcarving and wheel examples from the Hungarian countryside.)
However, this isn’t quite what I had in mind when I was talking with Spoon Guy about a possible distaff design!
Woman beating man with distaff
I had something like this in mind. Or this. Or these, from an SCA article.
Check out this wheel, and its distaff, all turned! Or all these designs! Here’s a wheel similar to mine in age, being used for flax spinning – but it’s backwards for some reason.
Ann, Spoon mentions that he’s seeing detachable feet on extant examples – I think by ‘feet’ we’re talking about a distaff that is freestanding, right? That’s not what I want now – there’s an empty hole in the motherboard of my wheel, and the idea is to fill it.
This is so great! I’m very excited.
Yeah Country Craftsman wheels. I always thought they were one of the great unsung wheels–everyone talks about their schacts and reeves and majacrafts and louetts and never a peep about the craftsman. As well as *looking* like a spinning wheel, they’re fast and smooth (yes, I have one–my first wheel)
About distaffs (distaves?). Some are free standing–you set them beside your wheel. Some fit into a hole in the wheel. There are some that set into a base that is attached to a flat piece of wood–you sit on it to steady the distaff (that’s mostly for spindle use).
For use with my handspindles I like to use a hand distaff–actually I used repurposed lucets (although I have used Y-shaped twigs from a tree as well). You pull your fiber into a roving and wrap in in a figure 8 around the arms. The handle is held against your palm with your last two fingers, leaving your thumb and first two fingers free to handle the fiber. I can send you a picture if that doesn’t make sense.