Our orders for the business have picked up a little, but not as much as last year. I don't know if it's the sign of the economy or if it's just that we don't have enough variety of products. It's expensive to stock inventory and try to anticipate what will sell. Our yarns seem to be the slowest sellers. The needles and spinning fiber fly out the door. I like the Louet yarns but I think folks tend to go to actual yarn shops for yarn.

I simply have to show you what I purchased off of Eb@y last week:



What we know about it: On Eb@y, it was listed as a Shaker wheel from Maine. They thought it was from the 1800's.

My friend Jessie found it listed in Spinning Wheels and Accessories by Michael B. Taylor and David A. Pennington . This book is like a spinning wheel encyclopedia. Here is what it says about it: "NM is listed as Nathan Merrill of Alfred, ME. Shaker 1743-1819, Deacon at SDL 1796-1809, Alfred 1806-1809." So basically, it is over 200 years old. It was only missing the drive band and the distaff. I don't use a distaff and twine works as a drive band. It spins wonderfully. It was a pick-up only purchase and at first I almost didn't look at it. But it turned out that it was here in CT in Litchfield county, about an hour drive.

Go ahead, guess how much it cost, I'll wait..................

Give up? A beautiful, 200 year old WORKING Shaker spinning wheel, only $125.00!!! Estimated value is actually $400-$600. It has all of it's original parts, except for the distaff. No scratches or nicks on the wood. Even the leather pieces that connect the footman are original.

It was listed as "Buy it Now" And I did! I've been wanting an antique wheel for sometime. I want it for the times when we give demonstrations. My Lendrum works wonderfully, but it doesn't have the visual appeal of the antique wheel. I'm not usually the type of person that names inanimate objects, but I felt this beautiful piece needed a name. I have named her Sister Prudence. It seems like a good Shaker name.