Spinner's weasel

Spinner's weasel or clock reel is a mechanical yarn-measuring device consisting of a spoked wheel with gears attached to a pointer on a marked face (which resembles a clock) and an internal mechanism that makes a "pop" sound after the desired length of yarn is measured (usually a skein). The pointer allows the spinner to see how close they are to reaching a skein. The weasel's gear ratio is typically 40 to 1, and the circumference of the reel is usually two yards, thus producing an 80-yard skein when the weasel pops (after 40 revolutions).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Some reels or skein winders are made without the gear mechanism (see swift (textiles)). They perform the same function, but without the "clock" or pop to aid the spinner in keeping track of the length of thread or yarn produced. A niddy noddy is an even simpler version.^[4]^[5] The wrap reel, on the other hand, is even more complex, with a mechanism for standardizing the tension.

The clock reel is a possible source for the word "weasel" in the nursery rhyme Pop Goes the Weasel.^[6]

References

^ Brown, Rachel, The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book, p. 240, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 1978.
^ D. D. Volo, Family Life in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-century America (Greenwood, 2006), p. 264.
^ "Another Clock Reel," Full Chisel Blog Web site (http://www.fullchisel.com/blog/?p=298), Retrieved 8-3-2011.
^ "18th Century Yarn-Winding Tools," 18th-Century Notebook Web site (http://larsdatter.com/18c/winding.html), Retrieved 8-3-2011.
^ Chadwick, Eileen, The Craft of Hand Spinning, pp.78-80, 156-7, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1980.
^ Pop Goes the Weasel, The Phrase Finder, http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pop-goes-the-weasel.html

External links

Media related to Spinner's weasels at Wikimedia Commons

This textile arts article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Brown, Rachel, The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book, p. 240, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 1978.

[2] D. D. Volo, Family Life in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-century America (Greenwood, 2006), p. 264.

[3] "Another Clock Reel," Full Chisel Blog Web site (http://www.fullchisel.com/blog/?p=298), Retrieved 8-3-2011.

[4] "18th Century Yarn-Winding Tools," 18th-Century Notebook Web site (http://larsdatter.com/18c/winding.html), Retrieved 8-3-2011.

[5] Chadwick, Eileen, The Craft of Hand Spinning, pp.78-80, 156-7, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1980.

[6] Pop Goes the Weasel, The Phrase Finder, http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pop-goes-the-weasel.html

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Spinning
Materials	Noil Rolag Roving Sliver Staple Top Tow Woolen Worsted
Techniques	Carding Combing Heckling Long draw Scutching Short draw Twist per inch
Hand spinning tools	Hand spinning Distaff Niddy noddy Nostepinne Spindle Spinning wheel Spinner's weasel
Industrial spinning	Cotton-spinning machinery Ring spinning Open-end spinning DREF friction spinning Magnetic ring spinning Mule spinners' cancer Piece-rate list Spinning frame Spinning jenny Spinning mule Throstle frame Water frame Wool combing machine