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19th Century Skein Winder. Local history buffs have been very generous in sharing their artifacts with Fairbairn House. This six-wheeled skein winder for wool yarn came from a local family collection to help us show some of the tools our pioneers used to make their lives a bit easier. After spinning the sheep's wool and making a two-ply yarn suitable for knitting or weaving, it needed to be wound into skeins for either washing or dyeing. This was done with a winder by attaching an end of the fibre to one
19th Century Skein Winder. Local history buffs have been very generous in sharing their artifacts with Fairbairn House. This six-wheeled skein winder for wool yarn came from a local family collection to help us show some of the tools our pioneers used to make their lives a bit easier. After spinning the sheep's wool and making a two-ply yarn suitable for knitting or weaving, it needed to be wound into skeins for either washing or dyeing. This was done with a winder by attaching an end of the fibre to one of the arms and turning it to complete the skein.
(Photo - Jean laFlamme)