Todays guest is Mary Knox who is a self described “spinning wheel enthusiast”. In our chat you can find out about how her spinning journey led from obtaining her first wheel from Husfliden in Norway (pictured above), to cataloguing and authoring a comprehensive book on New Zealand made spinning wheels.
Pictured above is one of the most intriguing wheels that Mary talks about made by Harold Martin of Christchurch. Mary explains; “(he) began making spinning wheels during the Depression of the 1930s. He pioneered the use of metal drive wheels, which he probably had cast specially. An engineer by profession, as well as a skilled spinner and weaver, Martin ignored the complications of traditional spinning wheels. (He did, though, make one attractive traditionally-styled wheel, perhaps just to prove he could).
The design of these little wheels is pared down to the basics – there is no fancy turning and not a maiden in sight. Martin introduced to New Zealand spinning wheels the metal drive wheel, the off-centre footman connection instead of a crank, the flyer in front of a single support post (an idea which has persisted in New Zealand wheels and is still seen in some Majacraft models) and the wheel dropped partly below the level of the table (a solution later followed by others including Ashford in the Traditional).”
You can find Mary’s website here and contact her there to order copies of her book or just contact her to say how much you enjoyed listening to her today!
Mary has also been published in The spinning wheel sleuth and has a “top secret” project she is working on for them currently.
Settle back into your easy chair, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy listening to Mary’s story.
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