TDF Day 6, Pots of tea, coffee and Museums

Today was a little different as I had to renew my museums friends membership at the Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum which is just outside Nottingham. The website link is here and this video explains things a lot better than I could.

As it was a quiet day in the museum, after a cup of coffee I was able to wander around the machine shop on my own and take photos.

and one of the machines so you can see the whole thing.

I also popped over the road to the village museum as it is only open two hours a week ! like many small museums, its an old school house containing artifacts rescued from various buildings.

The chip shop caught my eye, abandoned when the owner went to war in 1941 it was rediscovered in 1985. the owner had lived a recluse since returning and after his death, family members were astounded to find the cip shop still in the parlour exactly as he left it in 1941, fat still in the fryers, money in the till and his coat hanging up. The fryer, counter and all the other implements ar now in the museum.

The pharmacy cupboards etc were rescued from being destroyed when the chemist was refitted so they form an interesting corner.

The museum  is very hands on, things are passed down off the shelf to you, children have mole hunt map ( looking for the stuffed toys)

Looking through an assortment of pegs, dolly pegs, gypsy peg with the tin bindings, I found these. Anyone know why they have a hole in them?

A very small amount of spinning was done over coffee at the museum

Bobbin along

On Bank Holiday Monday I joined the other volunteers at The Framework Knitters Museum for their Workers Play Time event. Usually I take my spinning wheel over to the museum but this time they asked if I knew anyone who did any other sort of craft. I admitted that I did know how to make bobbin lace and offered to put a display together with lace pillows where people could have a go for themselves.

It has been a while since I touched my lace making equipment and I spent a few evenings working on a strip of Torchon lace just to get the feel for it again, after all, no point trying to show people how to do it if I've forgotten the basics myself!!

I found my old samples and remounted them into a proper display book and found a couple of small canvas that came with easels in a local discount book store and used them to display different types of bobbins. Because I have given away/sold most of my completed pieces, I took along a couple of pieces of  bobbin lace that I had rescued from a charity shop and I hope that the original owner approves of them being used for this purpose.

The green bookmark is one of the pieces

and the hankie in the foreground is the other

Spinning was represented along with quilting

rag rug making

and natural dyeing.

The sun stayed out, the local community choir entertained us and a great day was had by all.

Easter Bunnies

Hya,

• Quick post,
• I spent yesterday sat in the parlour of the worker cottage at the Framework Knitters Museum
• It was very cold
• I decamped to the tea rooms after two hours
• For most of the time I was surrounded by under fives looking for a dozen or so of theses.

Exhausting!!

Victorian Christmas at Framework Knitters Museum

Yesterday my friend Angela and myself found ourselves back at the Framework knitters museum in Ruddington giving a spinning demonstration as part of their Victorian Christmas event. No, we didn't dress up partly because we don't have costumes but also because it seems to classify spinning as a lost art only seen at reenactment days.

We made ourselves comfy on the balcony of the old Wesleyan chapel where the collection of knitwear is housed including Queen Victoria's stockings that were recently featured on the Antiques Road Trip programme here in the UK.

The examples of Framework knitwear are quite stunning.

 

 

During the afternoon we were entertained by the Ruddington Comminity Choir ,  and the Maids of Clfton Morris dancers

 Children were entertained by Father Christmas and story telling in the old workshop, I was taken with the knitted Christmas decoration made using the sock machines.....

.........Hot Chestnuts and crumpets toasted by the fire!

As darkness fell, the lanterns were lit creating a magical place for children to come to visit Santa.

I hope you all had a good weekend x

Framework knitting museum spinning

Yesterday was fun although I had a shaky start but a visit to the local coffee shop helped to put that right.

double whammy on the caffeine !!

So body sorted, I made my way down to the Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington near Nottingham where Angela from the local guild and myself were due to be giving a spinning demonstration.

This was the sight that met me as a rounded the corner of the alley way, The sky was still a little overcast but the sun did make an apearance later in the day.

The large number of window are designed to give as much light as possible to the workshops to enable the workers to perform their work especially when working with fine threads.

You can see how tightly packed these huge machines are.

Also on show are squirrel cage swifts and a bobbin winder. Demonstrations of how the machines were used are available and this weekend the museum was open in conjunction with the Nottingham Lace Here Now event.

 The next photo shows quite clearly that knitting is in fact loops pulled though loops

The other building houses a collection of circular knitting machines for making knitting tubes wheich these days become scarves but would have become sock/ hosiery.

 

 

samples of machine knitted lace were also for sale

 
as for the spinners......
we made ourselves at home in the cottage with a selection of handspun yarns on show






you can see other posts about this museum here