After some questions, it's a followup post.
The flea market guy was selling a yarn winder for $50. (If there are any takers willing to pay that and shipping, I can pick it up for you on Sunday) He called it a yarn-winder but he also had a knitting machine for sale that he called a "loom." I don't know how vast his fiber knowledge is. I did not buy it. While I'm guessing it was a good deal, I just couldn't justify it. This isn't a picture of the actual winder. The one there didn't have a base and was a darker wood.
My best guess is that it's used to make skeins from spun yarn on bobbins. I'm thinking it's sort of a high end niddy-noddy.A Wikpedia search suggests that the weasel pops every 2 revolutions to measure the amount of yarn in the skein. As with all quality folk classicsWikpedia has several other possible origins of the nursery rhyme.
Further...
A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle,
That's the way the money goes,
Pop Goes the Weasel.
I'm sure there are more verses waiting to be written!
6 comments:
I think you're right, and that is a skein winder. I've seen modern versions that look pretty similar, but I'd never heard of a "weasel" before, and I certainly never connected it with yarn. And, by the way, I think a skein winder is a smashing idea. I can't tell you how sick I get of winding the bobbins off onto my niddy noddy. VERY slow.
Where is the flea market? At the fairgrounds? I may have to hit it this weekend.
I'd love to have it but I think my husband would kill me if I spent that much money on something that old and yarny - no matter how beautiful and related to an iconic nursery rhyme!
Glad for the added info - myself being a non-knitter, I was thoroughly confused. Interesting stuff.
You are spot on. It is a skein winder...and you can get new ones for not too much more than that. I hadn't ever heard about the "weasel" before being part of it's history. ANd the skein winder I have used doesn't have anything that pops up. It has a handy dandy yarn meter to measure accurately how many yards you have. Skein winders are insanely useful. I have been using my biz partners because she already had it. I am thinking about buying my own. It makes winding go so much faster.
Very interesting! I thought perhaps that was what I was looking at but was sure. As with others, I never would have associated the weasel with this. BTW, I gave you an award.
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