What's In a Name?

I have no idea why, but I could not find my own blog when I searched for it using the exact web address, nor would any of my images come up in image searches as they once did.  Perhaps I neglected the blog a little too much?  Maybe I needed to log-in once a month?  When I searched for my blog, a local music group with the same name came up.  Hmm . . .    To prevent or clear any confusion my title may have caused, hoping it'll fix the search issue, I changed my title and address to my registered business name, "Twill & Tow".

I came up with and registered the name several months ago to label my beeswax candles and anything else I might want to sell.  Twill is a weave structure, and Tow is the shorter fiber left over from prepping flax for spinning.  With my first blog name I tried too hard to be "cool", my second name came from my time actually living on the Stillwater River and my harp playing and spinning "string".

It was simple to change my blog name--I wish I had known that when I switched "Lemon Floss" to "Stillwater Strings" . . . at the time, I spent hours copying and pasting when all I needed was the feature to change the name or import (in my defense, I think those features came later in updates).

Fixing the Sectional Beam on the Gilmore Loom

While out celebrating our anniversary, I came across and convinced my husband to let me buy a small weaving studio.  I call it a "studio" because it included several items: a loom, spool rack, horizontal warping reel, more shuttles of various styles than I could ever use (some may pop up here for sale), sample cards, and more - plus the yarn intended for the original project (60 + skeins of wool singles in shades of brown).

From a photo among all the "stuff" I guessed the original weaver intended saddle blankets.  I'm the third owner of this Gilmore (the company keeps records if you call them).  I'm guessing from its condition that neither of the first two "gentlemen" actually wove on it.  One warped it and wove about two inches, but nothing more.

The back beam's sectional pieces were broken but the rest of the loom looked great!  It's an 8-harness from the 90s.

Freshly unloaded into our garage where I disassembled it to make repairs and move it into the house.

A close up of the broken sectionals on the back beam.

Removing the warp to the warping reel.  Sectionals removed.

I decided that our modern wood glue is effective enough these days that I didn't need to replace the broken pieces.  Since there wasn't any warping (of the boards, not the weaving warp), only cracks, I was able to simply inject some Titebond into the cracks and then clamp them tightly.

I did replace some broken pegs and "splines" (the part that attaches the sectionals to the back beam).

Repaired and in its place (the house came with a room that color--not my taste, but our toddler loves it).

I re-warped the loom and began the original weaver's project over again.  I have our toddlers trained to leave it alone.  Yay!

Fixing an Umbrella Swift

My sweet husband allowed me to purchase a fantastic Gilmore loom.  Along with the loom came several accessories, one of which is an umbrella swift . . . in pieces.

The broken swift.

 Once I made sure the pieces were all there, I gave them a cleaning and waxing.  Then began tying them back together.

And one tie at the cross.

Jesus, I'm thinking of You on the cross as I tie these crosses!

The fixed swift working hard to hold yarn for my current project on the Gilmore loom.

Update on the Bernat Loom

The loom is warped and  . . . I'm not weaving on it like I should. 

The loom is in a room which has no heat, so it waits while I work on other projects (like updating this blog).  Here is how I left it. 

So far, so good.

The random red threads are marking my length--the towels I wove last year and entered in the fair were laughable in all different lengths--plus the competition entered a 16-shaft set of perfection.  Sigh.  I blame the kids for moving my markers, hence the knotted threads.

Seed Cleaner

My flax to linen work continues.  In 2019 I planted what I collected in 2018.  It all came up (four pounds of seed)!  I planted thickly so that I could try for a finer fiber this year.

Once harvested and dried, the seed can be collected.  Then there's a tedious problem.  At the end of 2018, I spent a few days with a small fan and a garbage bag full of seed bolls, blowing away chaff, separating, separating . . . zzzzzzzz . . .

There MUST be an easier way.  So I found this on a website that provides a tech drawing and measurements and asks only that you return the credit of the design to their website, https://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedcleaner.html

In the photo, above, you can see my build was quickly hashed together (Come on, I have laundry and dishes and diapers waiting!)--you can also see the chaff floating on the righthand side and the seeds falling down on the lefthand side into the bucket below.  I made a funnel from a scrap of paper, and am using a household vacuum because the shop vac was too aggressive.

One handful at a time, adjusting the vacuum nozzle to get the right amount of suction.  When I finished I had collected four pounds of clean seed.  The amount puzzled me a bit.  It was the same harvest as last year when I had only planted one pound of seed.  Then I remembered I harvested the flax early hoping for a finer fiber.  I believe if I had left the flax until all the seed bolls were ripe, I would have collected more seed.  As it is, I think the four-pounds is all I can manage on my own if I want to do anything other than flax to linen, and the fiber was finer!

The Dollhouse

The Dollhouse was finished in time for our local craft fair (I'm actually finishing the last window panes during set-up for the fair).  It has gone to a new home, and the basement is now set up as a "romper room" for our kids.

This was my first craft fair experience.  In addition to the dollhouse I sold pecan pies, almond croissants, handspun yarn, handmade paper, and homemade apple butter and chokecherry syrup.  I also had loaves of fresh bread, but no one seemed to want the bread--I suppose if I had to choose my carbs I'd go "big" with the croissants and skip the plain bread, too!

Custom fireplace made from polymer clay.

I moved and redesigned the stairs.

I'm glad to finish this project.  On to the next!

A Wheel Mystery

Update 2-22-20-This little wheel sold!

I promised myself I would not become a collector of wheels.  This Spring/Summer I have come home with two "antique-maybe" wheels.  

This is the first wheel:  Smaller at about 13" diameter, with decorations and a distaff for flax.

My parents took pictures of it in a Texan antique store, sent them with their phones, and I said I would buy it.  I learned a lesson in buying without seeing in person, and though I didn't spend a lot on it, I did spend more than I would have offered if I had inspected it in the shop.

Though it does appear antique-ish (defining antique as 100+ years old), there are some strange things about it.  It does spin, but I think I can make it better.  For all the fancy turnings, some of the holes aren't drilled true--one of the maidens is slightly angled down/ the mother-of-all isn't square/ the base or table sits a little wonky to the legs.

Whoever or however it was made, I speculate it could be a student project, mass-production piece, or broken and put back together with added embellishments.

Here is the underside of the table where the uprights are set into the table with . . . I'm not sure what you call this?  It's a bowtie or butterfly shape with a shim/spline/ piece of wood pounded into it to splay the end of the round piece out so that it stays in the hole.  You can also see the legs were glued in at one point in time.

On the topic of glue, here is the edge of the table with . . . "doo-dads"? "medallions" glued on.  I point out the glue for a reason.  Although I'm only an amateur woodworker, I think that any true craftsman worth his salt would not have done such a shoddy job on the glue and then put a finish on over top of it!

This photo shows the footman slipping onto a tapered axle crank/pin with a turned "bead" to hold the footman on the axle crank/pin.
























And here is the flyer with bobbin and whorl.  The flyer is also tapered and the whorl fits tightly, but I wonder if there would be issues later with it loosening.

I believe the flyer and axle crank are cast metal.  There is a texture to it like hammering, and no wear from use as far as I can tell--though someone waxed the wooden screw threads where the mother-of-all is raised or lowered for tension.








Is it legitimate?  Well, it IS a spinning wheel and it does spin, sort of.  Some of the turnings vary slightly in size instead of matching exactly, which makes the wheel look hand-made; but, the finish job is poor and sloppy.  Kind of like those harps by mid-east manufacturing you see all over e-bay . . . they look like real harps . . . but you get what you pay for . . . or over-pay for.



But THIS wheel . . . 

This wheel "found me" on e-bay.  I know it's a bizarre thing to say, but I now get what other people mean when they say similar things.  Something about it caught me.  It spins like a dream.  The craftsmanship and engineering are excellent.  And it is a mystery . . .

*Split table (the wheel sits down in the table)
*22" wheel
*Still has the top of its distaff
*double drive
*Irish tension or "drag"
*Metal bearings
*remnants of gold paint under new finishes all over the wheel


Parts of it have been painted black, and not too carefully.  It smells like "Old Gold" dusting spray.

The bobbin and whorl fit tightly against each other.  I had to borrow a bobbin from another wheel because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to work in double drive or if the bobbin wasn't original, or perhaps swollen with humidity?

The flyer is very nice, but the hooks look like someone put a varnish or shellac over them, which caused my fiber to catch occasionally.  

The wheel axle even has a hole in the bearing cap to put drops of oil through.  

It still has both axle caps.

No makers' marks.  It's a mystery!