Oh wow! I see now!

My mom used to have a spinning wheel years ago. It's long enough ago, that she doesn't even remember what kind she had. She says it was "modern" so it was probably at Louet or something similar.

I don't remember her having a wheel at all so she must have had it during that four or five year period when I lived far enough away I never saw her.

She says she enjoyed spinning but never got very good at it. But she hung in there until she developed a ganglia cyst in her shoulder that grew until it literally strangled the nerves to her right arm. She had surgery and it helped with the pain, but caused nerve damage so she has little or no feeling in her right hand.

She still knits but said that because she cannot FEEL the yarn going through her fingers she simply lost the ability to spin. I thought that if she really enjoyed spinning she would have just switched hands... but she LOVES knitting and I suspect the nerve issues were just a good excuse for her to give up this other distraction (spinning) and focus on what she really enjoyed the most.

Fair enough.

Now, I wear reading glasses. Have three or four pair of them laying about in various places. I still lose them. Then, find them again but only after I have already found another pair. I think I need about four or five more pair so I spend less time looking for glasses and spend more time writing, working and knitting.

I had the corrective vision surgery (PRK) and it made a world of difference for me with long and mid-distance vision. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is not to wear hot, heavy glasses or fight with contact lenses. The surgery did not help with the close-up vision.

My understanding is that as we age, our near vision worsens not because the eyeball changes shape as with Myopia, but because the muscles the focus the eye get weaker.

But I don't mind the reading glasses. They are light weight, I can prop them on the end of nose and look over them. I can take them off and still find my way out of a room.

But I do need them to cook (can't read packages or cookbooks without them). I need them to knit (especially if I'm reading a chart or directions or working with fine or splitty yarn). I don't need them for computer work most of the time unless the print is very small. I definitely need them to read unless it's one of those very large print books. Even with the glasses, I now also need a magifying glass to thread a sewing needle.

I have not normally worn them while spinning. I was relying pretty much on feel to draft fiber. I think that will change now as this morning I sat down to spin and happened that my son brought me something to read. He also brought me my glasses so I could read it. I left them on and started spinning.

I didn't notice at first but as I got into the "groove" I did start to notice how the individual hair fibers were being pulled into the twist from the triangle pinched off. After about a half a bobbin, I also noticed how much more consistent my spinning was this morning.

Eleanor the Wheel may find she has a new pair of reading glasses added to her little work basket.