Niddy-Noddy

I love looking at old paintings, specially of life and I was noticing something when I was looking at pictures of the home. They can tell us a lot about daily activities, customs and the tools they used. The one thing I was surprised by though was the little lack of evidence regarding, knitting, sewing, spinning and weaving in the home. Unless they are actually doing the craft there isn’t hints of it in the home. Yet if you look close, there are hints. Not always obvious ones but they’re hidden there. One of the things I have been finding a lot of is swifts, which I have talked about before, and the niddy-noddy.

Pieter Pietersz Antwerp 1540-1603 Spinner using a niddy noddy

A fun word to say, but for a useful tool for spinners. When you Spin you place all of your work onto a bobbin, the next task for a spinner to do is remove it from the bobbin and stretch it. You do this by often by winding the bobbin onto a niddy-noddy or swift. While sits vary in styles through time, the niddy-noddy changes barely. With a single shaft often varying in length depending on the measurement of skein a spinner is going for in the long run. It then has two limbs perpendicular to one another often with a curve on one or both ends to hold the yarn in place while you wind it. The adornments and carvings may vary from piece to piece but the basic shape is still the same.

Me wrapping some romney wool that I just spun around the niddy noddy.

A worker will Wind around them all creating multiple V’s as they work. The length of the center shaft can also help determine the length of the skein or at least make it easier to measure how much how many yardages you have completed. The constant motion is rhythmic, and one doesn’t start it unless they know they can do it without putting it down.

This tool I find often though, hanging on a wall, sitting on the floor. It is amazing that while there are no other hints of textiles in the house, this little device is there winking at us saying, never fear this house spun, this house knew yarn, and this house was full of art.

A detail of a painting by Marten Van Cleve of aAntwerp 1527-1581. The niddy noddy is haning on the bench next to a pole that may be a distaff. No other signs of spinning, knitting or sewing in the home.

Knit Wisdom

They say knitting is good for your sanity. It may help to prevent dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other mental disorders. In its history it was taught to people with mental disorders to help not only give them something to do but bring in money for the asylum. It is the rhythmic and constant motion, then if you challenge yourself by trying new patterns and as result memorizing those patterns, and there is also the fact it can be peaceful as you work and see a completed garment that are supposed to help you.

However, I question this as I try something new, anything new. A friend staring at me trying to figure out the magic happens can be as rewarding as me making the magic happen. At the same-time it can be something as simple as a dropped stitch that inspires a swear word that makes me hate the magic. A garment that comes out better then expecting is amazing for the brain and the ego. However, a garment that doesn’t fit right or stretches beyond the imagination is also amazing for deflating one’s ego. I love knits but the sanity and the wisdom of knitting can be fleeting. Here are some wisdoms I have heard, and use to help keep my sanity.

• “You didn’t make a mistake, you made a personalization.”
• Who cares if you make a mistake, 9 out of 10 times other people won’t notice and if they are that one, ask them if they care for a breath mint.
• A lady never discusses the size of her stash, or at least never admits the true amount.
• Big challenges can reap bigger awards
• Knit according to your drink, the more wine the less complicated you should knit otherwise you will spend more time tink (unkitting cause it's knit spelled backwards) tomorrow.
• It is perfectly sane to work on more than one knitting project at a time. It is also sane to have 2 knitting projects, two sewing projects, tatting projects and if I had two spinning wheels two spinning projects going on at the same time.
• Knitting isn’t really exercise if it was, I would have six pack abs, buns of steel and arms of iron but if it was I would never get any gardening done.
• It is ok to do some selfish knitting every now and then.
• I must not take it personal when someone asks me if I am crocheting.
• Knitting has taught me a lot of useful skills, like untangling jewelry, that is now is nothing compared to untangling yarn.
• Just because there are images of people knitting on stilts doesn’t mean I should try it.
• Yes I have time to do one more row… not really
• Just because I have been sitting in this traffic jam for 2 hours doesn’t mean I should knit
• Just because there is a pattern for knitting something, does not mean you should
• Yes I can buy socks at Wal-Mart but that doesn’t mean one should
• It is not ok to flip someone off for asking me if I am crocheting.
• One should not paint their nails and then try to knit
• Dear future boyfriend/husband I am not hard to buy for, there is yarn, knitting needles, fabric and wine, now what would you like, a sweater, pants, or beer.
• To anyone who knows me if I flip you the finger hand me yarn and say this “K2 P2 K2 P2” Then hand me a glass of wine and walk away. If I flip you off it has been a very bad day and I will make it up to you with cookies later.
• Just because it is on sale doesn’t mean you should buy it, never mind, buy it. Buy it all!!!!