Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Fiber tools: skein winder, six-arm

  • wcu_craft_revival-6104.jpg
  • After fiber had been spun it needed to be transferred to a skein for ease of handling. The thread was run from the spinning bobbin and tied to one arm of the winder. The box behind the wheel contains the gears or clock which kept count as the arms were rotated. The spinner could roughly estimate the yardage based on two yards per rotation. The counting mechanism was also called a weasel, and is remembered in the nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel." This 1800s-era skein winder was collected by Frances Goodrich and donated to the Southern Highland Craft Guild in the 1930s. The maker of this item is unknown.