Inside the Schacht Ladybug Design Team

You may have seen and heard about the Ladybug Spinning Wheel we’re working on. She’s getting

Filip Sokol has been instrumental in following through on the technical details of the Ladybug’s design. He has been in charge of prototyping and refining ideas.

quite the buzz out there, and we’re really excited about how the wheel is developing. We’re having a blast with the design process and I thought you’d like a look inside Schacht.

The Ladybug started with me in the sales department. I knew what kind of product I wanted to offer. It needed to be in a certain price range and have particular criteria. My memo to the design team specified these things: it had to be cute, be a true double treadle, have at least a 16” drive wheel, come with three bobbins, have at least a 3/8” orifice, be portable, be stable but lightweight, use Scotch tension, offer an attached lazy kate, share interchangeable bobbins with the Matchless, and offer drive ratios between 7:1 and 15:1. For inspiration, I came up with a working title, “Ladybug”, and as it turns out, it eventually became the name.

Cindy Lair considers the production aspects of the Ladybug’s manufacture. She is one of our in-house spinning wheel techs (her first job at Schacht was to assemble Matchless wheels) and lends creative ideas to the process.

Our design team of four is made up of our technical manager, Filip Sokol; production manager Cindy Lair; founder and president, Barry Schacht; and me, vice president of sales and service. What has been wonderful about our team is that we each offer a different perspective and expertise. From this we have moved forward to create a truly unique product that meets the critieria I wanted, and in fact, has surpassed my expectations. Getting feedback has been an important component of our process: we’ve taken the Ladybug on visits to our local weaving shop, TNNA (The National Needlework Association), and Midwest Weavers Conference. What we observed in the field as well as comments from both expert and novice spinners and Schacht dealers allowed us to refine the design in ways we couldn’t have otherwise. The cuteness factor has made the design process fun, and Barry has come up with a delightful detail that will make every wheel one-of-a-kind. “Where’s my ladybug?”

At this point, all the details have been ironed out, and we’re ordering components and materials for its manufacture. We’re anticipating a November release, so watch for the appearance of the Ladybug at your favorite spinning supplier. (If you want a sneak preview, we’ll be showing her at SOAR—the Spin-Off Autumn Retreat—this fall.)

Barry Schacht lends his superb design sensibilities to the overall function and look of the wheel. His excellent component sleuthing and procurement have been instrumental in the details of the design.

My primary function has been to keep the project going and to act as the product and consumer advocate. I also monitor the functioning of the wheel.

Wedding Report

THE SHAWL: I DID finish the shawl with a few days to spare! It DID turn out beautifully—a simple and subtle design with a wonderful drape—a reason to spring for tencel! And if you have any old Cum Wool hanging around, you’ll find it to be delightfully springy. I used it at the edges of the spaced warps to hold their position. (I found through sampling that I liked the look of wool at the edges better than the tencel.) I found the subtle contrast in color and texture between the tencel and wool appealing in the overall appearance of the shawl. Look for instructions and a photo of the wedding shawl in our Schacht’s online newsletter.

THE WEDDING: I’m just recharging after a packed week of house guests; smoozing with friends and family; parties, which included a BBQ for 80 in our in our yard; and, of course, the wedding ceremony and festivities. It was a joyous time filled with laughter, love, and happy tears.

ADVICE FROM THE MOB TO FUTURE MOBS: Believe that the young couple is probably more mature than you realize; give advice only when asked, but if you just can’t help stating your opinion, do so once and then just butt out; know that what you perceive as a mistake, like including a dog in the ceremony, probably won’t wreck havoc on the proceedings; be available whenever you’re asked to help; have your wallet as open as you’re comfortable with; think that you’ve added a son-in-law, not lost a daughter; truly believe that this is their wedding, not yours; be comforted in knowing that you can order a wedding cake a week from the wedding and table decorations only a few days in advance; accept and embrace the fact that you are not the most important person to your daughter any longer; let her call you; it’s way too early to ask about grandchildren; get on with your own life!

Wedding Shawl Report

Saturday, as I was warping my loom for the wedding shawl, I was talking to myself, “This is not where I want to be. A week away from THE WEDDING and STILL weaving; no, not even weaving, warping the loom for the shawl!” Then I let the thought go…most everything is ready for arriving guests, wedding plans, bridal details, etc. This is time I actually have to weave. It’s not like I’m starting from scratch! I’ve done my sampling. I know what I have to do. Now I just need to do it. Once I went to my own personal AA (“attitude adjustment”) meeting, I began to relish the quiet before the “storm”. I measured, threaded, beamed, and tied on.

Tip-O-the-Week:
Measuring the warp, I wanted to use two spools of fine wool, but I didn’t have my spool rack handy. I definitely did not want to wind 108 ends with two spools jumping all over the floor. Then I spied my lazy Kate across the room and put the spools on it. Worked great.

I had planned to weave the shawl on my rigid heddle loom and had done my initial sampling on this loom. But realizing that time was of the essence, I knew I could weave faster on my Baby Wolf.

In anticipation, I had woven my final shawl sample on my Baby Wolf and was reminded that the weft packs in more on a floor loom than on a rigid heddle loom. My floor loom sample was quite a bit stiffer than my first sample on the rigid heddle loom. I also knew that beat differs over a wider width, in this case about 23”, than on a narrower 6” wide sample. Therefore, I put on a little extra warp length so that I could weave a few inches to test my beat. I wove about 6”, backing off on my beating a bit, and then I washed the sample. I was pleased with the hand of this piece. This was time well spent. Now I could weave with the confidence of knowing that the end result is what I hope it will be. At this point, I do not need any surprises!

Here are my warping and weaving tunes:
Bob Dylan’s 2006 Modern Times (especially cut 2, “Spirit on the Water”)
The Dixie Chick’s Taking the Long Road (2006)
Bonnie Raitt’s Souls Alike (2005) (personal favorite—“I will Not Be Broken”)

Midwest Weavers Conference Report - Roots 2007

As a Nebraska girl, it DID feel like I was returning to my roots when I traveled with colleague Betsy Blumenthal to Blair, Nebraska (just north of Omaha) for Midwest Weavers Conference, Roots 2007. The setting of Dana College was beautiful and just down the hill from the Black Elk-Neihardt Park (a city park that is part of the Nebraska state arboretum) where I walked several early mornings to a cacophony of bird song, swaying grasses, and sparkling spiderweb “flags” dotting the landscape.

The gathering of 250 was enthusiastic and energetic, as well as cheerfully helpful. I was impressed with my students’ eagerness to learn new techniques. These weavers were definitely lifelong learners, and it gave me pause to assess my own determination and desires to continue to learn.

Me (standing in back) with some of my great inkle weaving students.

The classes I taught were Inkle Weaving, Do It (how to get done what you want to get done), and Weaving to Go (easy projects to take with you gleaned from my book Time to Weave). I was fortunate to have some really great folk in my classes, and even made the acquaintance of Mary Lou Sherrerd, whose husband, Paul, I water-skied with at my uncle’s cabin at Lake Minitar in western Nebraska many, many moons ago. (Sometimes the world is very small.)

Mary Lou Sherrerd and me (thanks, Mary Lou, for sending the picture).

For me, the highlight of the conference was seeing the many people I’ve known over the years as both editor of Handwoven and sales manager at Schacht Spindle:

Commercial exhibitors: Jim and Susan from the Yarn Barn (Kansas) with tons of books, equipment and yarn; Susan McFarland of Susan’s Fiber Shop with yarns, books, and fiber; the good folk from Personal Threads in Omaha and the Plum Nelly in Hastings, Nebraska. Also, Russell Groff was still making the rounds with yarns from his warehouse. Also vending were Susan Markle of Trading Post for the Fiber Arts with some very cool spinning fiber, Red Fish with a huge array of beautiful, hand-dyed silk, and Lunatic Fringe with their rainbow of perle cotton.

Conference presenters: Margaret Roach Wheeler gave the keynote address and impressed us with an array of her fantastical creations. Mary Zicafoose gave the closing remarks that included at slide show of Nebraska scenes as well as the poetry of of Nebraskan Ted Kooser. Here’s some encouragement for you — in college Kooser was discouraged by his writing professors from pursuing a degree in poety. He then worked for many years in the insurance industry, waking up early to write poety before work. After retirement he pursued poety full time, eventually winning the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and being appointed US poet Laureate. The lesson: just keep after what it is you’re passionate about and you just might achieve what it is you want!

Chatted with Elda Kohls, Jennifer Moore, and Susan Wilson about the art and craft of teaching. All in all I was impressed with the dedication of the teaching staff and the energy given to generously sharing textile information.

The conference organizers should feel great about their well-organized event! Thank you, Roots 2007!

Links:
Black Elk-Neihardt Park http://www.benpark.org/About.asp
Ted Kooser http://www.tedkooser.com/
Margaret Roach Wheeler http://www.ozarkartistscolony.com/Wheeler/
Mary Zicafoose http://www.maryzicafoose.com/
Elda Kohls http://www.eldakohls.com/
Jennifer Moore http://www.doubleweaver.com/index.php
Susan Wilson http://www.weavespindye.org/pages/?p=mem-artist.html&loc=1-58-00