"The best curmudgeon in the world."

December 21, 2015 10:19 AM

Alden Amos, famously opinionated spinning wheel maker, teacher, and author, is dead at 77. He earned an obituary in the New York Times. "Thank you, Alden Amos." A 2009 interview. Alden and his wife, Stephenie Gaustad, sing Ode to Woad.
posted by liet (12 comments total)

Aw, I'm glad to see this here. The obit is so good! They had a knowledgeable spinner write it and she picked great people to talk to.
posted by clavicle at 10:31 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Lovely tribute. Thanks, liet.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:40 AM on December 21, 2015

I've never taken up spinning myself (embroidery is my fiber art), but there is something very soothing, even magical about watching a master spinner at work. Using the resulting hand spun thread gives a wonderful sense of connectedness to the process. You can see and feel the human craftsmanship, at once beautiful and beautifully flawed, in every variegated strand.

The work of Amos and those like him was made even more important by the recent tragic destruction of 44 antique spinning wheels to film a brief scene in Maleficent. Rather than use purpose-built props or CGI, Disney bought dozens of functional antique wheels and burnt them. Such a senseless waste.
posted by jedicus at 10:50 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I spin and this is a loss
.
posted by mrgroweler at 11:00 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

He was a pretty brilliant guy, and he will be missed. He absolutely was opinionated, and I can't say I agreed with all of his opinions... but it certainly made you think hard about why you thought he was wrong and you were right, and that always leads to a deeper understanding.

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posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 11:22 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

the recent tragic destruction of 44 antique spinning wheels to film a brief scene in Maleficent. Rather than use purpose-built props or CGI, Disney bought dozens of functional antique wheels and burnt them. Such a senseless waste.

I'd like to know for certain whether this is true. It seems a curious decision to have made, given the need to film scenes from multiple angles, and the need to reproduce props exactly should the reshoots be required. And the expense.

I'm not saying they didn't do it, just that it would seem unlikely on the face of it, and a quick Google only turns up a few blog posts. Is there stuff I'm missing?
posted by howfar at 12:29 PM on December 21, 2015

Is there stuff I'm missing?

Most of the discussion occurred on Ravelry, which is a walled-garden social network.
posted by jedicus at 12:42 PM on December 21, 2015

Really, really good obituary. I would have given my good arm for an Amos wheel.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 3:10 PM on December 21, 2015

I also enjoyed the NYT piece. It was respectful and captured his character, and I was pleased they explained the appeal of spinning.

"The Big Book of Handspinning" was one of the first books I bought when I started spinning years ago. It was totally overwhelming and it almost made me want to change my mind about learning to spin. I haven't pulled it off the shelf in years. I think I'll give it a new read in his memory.
posted by liet at 4:09 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by lagomorph at 6:41 PM on December 21, 2015

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posted by zibeline_rose at 7:22 PM on December 21, 2015

Thanks for pointing this out, clavicle. What a dude. I remember checking out his books from the library when I was first interested in spinning.
posted by cabingirl at 10:57 AM on January 3, 2016