Mary Poppins and Just Jane

What do Mary Poppins and my spinning wheel have in common? Kite string!

Lately I've found myself singing "With tuppence for paper and string, you can have your own set of wings..." while spinning. I suppose it's only natural as along with that flyer spinning faster than the eye can see, what's propelling the whole thing around and 'round since my very old drive band broke a few days ago is...

yep, you guessed it, kite string!

I looked high and low for a drive band close by. On hand were only single drive bands which work just fine when I've got the lace flyer set-up and running. I'm working with the regular flyer, which means double drive. I've learned to really love my double drive wheel. She's wonderful and I've gotten to know her better than ever in the past two weeks. It's hard to believe that before then I didn't even realize Just Jane was a double drive wheel with the regular flyer. I'd only ever spun laceweight as that was why I bought her and that was the flyer she had attached when she came home from the shop.  But double drive she is and that's the way she's going to stay for awhile, and I needed a drive band.

I looked through the few books I have on spinning. I looked online. I looked everywhere for some reference as what could be used in a pinch. I mean, after all, people have been spinning on wheels for centuries now and drive bands have not always been bought. They've been made out of what's available. I figured probably linen, cotton, maybe even wool. Whatever had been spun on the wheel. Made sense to me. But wherever I looked the reference was always to purchased drive bands of cotton, or the turbo-drive which has the ends melted together. Hmmm... what to do, what to do...

I started looking through the kitchen for the kitchen twine. Couldn't find it. Haven't used it in years. Looked for the packet of linen I used long ago when I hand-bound books (in a former life I was a professional calligrapher), couldn't find it. My husband came to the rescue when he held up a large green plastic bobbin like thingy and asked if kite string would work. I took a look at it and said yes.

I cleaned Just Jane up nicely and oiled everything needing oil then set about attaching the new "drive band". But what kind of knot is needed for a drive band. All it says in the wheel's original instructions is tie a knot and trim. Hmmm..... kite string is a synthetic, it's going to slip so a simple square knot isn't going to do the trick. I was never the kind of boy scout that learned about knots. I was a Campfire Girl so I can make a campfire with flint and tinder to this day, I can even do so with a bow drill, but knots escape me, or rather anyone can escape mine.

I finally managed to loop the ends in and over, down and around, under, over and up, in, and through enough that it is still holding quite well.

I don't know if it's the oil or the kite string or the music, but Just Jane has never been so magical. She no longer has that tiny little ka-thunk to her rhythm but hums like the most self-satisfied hummingbird it's ever been my pleasure to meet.

NOTE to concerned purists: double drive bands arriving soon, just in case.