Hi Alison, Most of the UK suppliers seem to stock the Newnham one others have mentioned. They are popular and will take most bobbin styles. Its about £25 from memory.
I have two wooden ones. One is a manual version of the old electric one where the bobbin is held at either end in a soft springloaded grip. This takes most bobbins and is adjustable in length, but if spangles are large you need to be able to secure them back against the shaft so they don't hit the base on every turn. I don't think it is made anymore, sadly, because it works well for me. The electric ones come up on ebay or other second hand sales sites occasionally - some people find they can't get on with them, a bit like when you first use a sewing machine it can get away from you. I have another manual one from Brian Goodwin where the bobbin is held sideways against supports and tensioned with an elastic band very like the antique ones. It is very pretty. It works ok but the problem was over time it tended to scratch the finish on the bobbins. Even lining the supports where the bobbin rests with felt did not really help. I would not recommend it for decorated or fancy ones. I think some of the continental lace suppliers do nice wooden ones but I don't know how well they work with spangled midlands. There's a Spanish electric one on Etsy but again I don't know how adjustable it is to midlands. Louise In Cambridge, suffering the same weird weather! Schlumberger-Private - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
