Sara writes: <<I have recently seen many younger persons wishing to begin working with fiber - many stay at home Moms - and wonder where they will save up for their purchases. >>
I've always been a stay at home Mom since my oldest was 6 months (he's now 23), on a very limited income (military enlisted pay). There are ways to afford equipment, if you really want it. The most obvious is to buy used. Many people buy an expensive wheel to start spinning on, and find out they don't like the wheel or don't like spinning, and don't have the space to decorate with it (or it makes them feel guilty when they look at it :) Wheel is like-new, but usually a hefty percentage less than new price. There are a number of relatively inexpensive wheels available new, as well. Babe comes to mind. Although I don't personally care for the PVC pipe look, they work, and they are cheap. Two days' work at minimum wage would buy one, if I remember the price right. Ashford wheels are a good deal for the money--I'm still using my Traveller, purchased in 1986, and it's made many a move with me--not counting its original trips from NZ to Canada to Germany as a kit to join me in Heidelberg :) It's crossed the Atlantic 3 more times, and lived in Massachusetts, Texas, and now Michigan, with nary a complaint. We should all be so flexible :) This wheel has given me NO problems in those 16 years. And there's nothing wrong with the old-fashioned drop spindle! That's how I learned to spin--and on a home-made one at that. You can make a drop spindle with a pencil stuck through a potato if spinning is important enough to you :) I recommend buying a spindle unless you're into medieval and earlier spinning recreations, though. Again, Babe has a great drop spindle for just $5 or so. With two whorls, you can choose fine or heavier weight yarn for spinning, and you can choose top whorl or bottom whorl style. I was quite impressed by this spindle, considering how little it cost. I saved up for my loom by working part-time while my kids were in school. Saved $2000 in one year, which was enough for a Harrisville 40 inch 8 shaft. No, not the greatest loom available, but buying it as a kit saved more money and taught me a lot about how looms operate. Just to round out the recommendations for less expensive yet effective equipment, the Mark V drumcarder is one of the best on the market for the money. I've been using the same one for 15 years, and it was refurbished by the manufacturer a couple years ago for just $35. I like it so well I bought a second one for classes! I don't know what sort of profit margin spinning wheel manufacturers have, but I doubt it's all that huge. It's a limited field with lots of competition. Each maker has to carve a niche, and to stay competitive, I bet they have to carve their profit margins pretty close as well. Yes, they cost a lot of money, but it's possible to save over time. In the meantime, unlike with many other endeavors, a person really wanting to spin or weave can do so with homemade equipment and get perfectly good results. Holly To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
