Local newspapers

Who said that local newspapers mostly contain local gossip?

Well, at least that is what I have always thought. So today I went to the local archive to read Nya Wexiö-Bladet for 1847 - the year that Mlle Granberg was touring the county giving classes in double-spinning.

I anticipated coming home with lot lots of "gossipy" information, such as Joahnna Månstdotter and Lina Andersson did attend the class in Lenhovda, and after only a week were able to spin 3 "pops" (knäpp) weighing only 2 "lod", or somesuch. Hopefully I would find advertisements and, and...
But. No such luck. In fact, almost no luck at all.

I found a few names, but those all belonged to remarkable spinsters from before the classes.

I found no advertisements at all (for things relevant, such as the classes themselves, spinning wheels, "modern" hackles...). Also I found nothing about the actual classes, not even the slightest mention!

What I did find was a kind of "morality", in the form of a conversation between "Mrs X", "the girl" and "the uncle":
Mrs X didn't want to send her maid to the spinning school, but the girl (niece of Mrs X, in fact) was going, because the uncle had said it was a Good Thing To Do.
Enters said uncle, who proceeds to tell the Ladies why [double-flyer] spinning school was such a good idea: it was "ancient" (had been used in Brabant for over 100 years - imagine that!); it would give work to paupers [my comment: why couldn't they get work spinning on a normal wheel, if spinsters were so sought-after?]; he gave a long lecture about the economics [interesting, but it will take some time until I can untangle all the various measurements used]; last, but not least: the Ladies ought to resume the responsibility of being Role Models.
Nearing the end of the economic lecture, Mrs Y enters. She gets all interested, 'cos that would mean she could turn away beggars without any remorse. Mrs X is nicer, she doesn't like to turn away hungry women without giving them something to eat.
The girl is excited, says she wants to go. [But that was her intention from the beginning]

This was quite a long article, but it ended without any mention at all about how to enrol, who was organizing the event(s), when and where they were to take place.

(Ok, so there might have been mentions I didn't see, but if so, it was in the middle of the "running text" - no advertisements, no "marketing".)

Maybe it wasn't so strange that (at least) one of them had to be cancelled due to low interest? I have found, in another publication, that four or five *were* held, one of them with more than 20 students. There were students turned away because of lack of double spinning wheels. (If you follow that link, don't tell anybody. Taking pics was allowed; showing them is not. Makes sense?!?)
So here comes a "legitimate" picture:

The never-ending story

or: yet some more pulleys

Considering I am a countermarche convert since first I tried one, it is interesting how odd counterbalance set-ups seem to come my way...

Have been to a flea-market again. Found some CB pulleys again. This time a pair of homemade(?) two-level type:

They look almost like the standard type, still sold:

- with the exception of all the extra holes.
They must be there for a reason, but which? To change the position of the pulleys? But if so, why?

DH speculated it was to be able to maximize the shed size.
But would that even be true, as, after all, the size/length of the horses (and their cords) must be so much easier to change than having to fiddle with a peg?
(Also considering the height of the reeds "way back when" - my old reeds measure between 5 and 8 cm, so theoretical shed size cannot have been a big question :-)

I left them at the flea market. Should anybody be interested, they will probably still be there for some time... light-weight and easy to pack. (Price? Don't know, unmarked) - come to think of it, there were also a couple of old-fashioned dräll pulleys, more or less like these

though I can't remember if 3, 4 or 5 levels. Again unmarked, but perhaps I could get a good price for both?
(If they are to be sent by post, they will probably not reach anywhere before x-mas)

AHA - so that's why...!

Once I wanted to weave with paper yarn, and to that end used one of the old wooden reeds.

After a while, I noticed that the dents were not evenly spaced:

Yesterday I came across the doubleweave portion of Zielinski's "Master weaver" where one can get several suggestions as to how to handle the fold when weaving double width.

(Methinks the first idea is the best: "experiment")

Transcription of the marked section (click, and most might be readable):
"Another method is to have special reeds made with dents growing wider towards the fold. Such reeds of rather old vintage can be found in antique shops. The difficulty here is that regardless of the width of the woven fabric the fold must be always at the edge of the reed, which may result in weaving off the center of the loom, unless the reed can be shifted in the batten at will."

I found that an adorable suggestion, which also might have explained my "variable" wooden reed...
Except it doesn't, of course. The open part wasn't even near one end, and wasn't even near to be systematic, whatever that may mean. And no, there weren't dents missing/fallen out, 'cos they usually show...