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Katrin How on earth did they do it?
27. März 2024
Ah, that's good to know! I might have a look around just out of curiosity. I've since learned that w...
Heather Athebyne How on earth did they do it?
25. März 2024
...though not entirely easy. I've been able to get my hands on a few strands over the years for Geor...
Katrin Hieroglyphs.
23. Februar 2024
Yes, that would sort of fit that aspect - but you can also go from bits of woods to sticks if you ar...
Bruce Hieroglyphs.
23. Februar 2024
I think the closest English equivalent would be 'Down the rabbit hole'. It has one entrance (No, not...
Harma Spring is Coming.
20. Februar 2024
I'm definitely jealous! Mine disapeared except for one pathetic little flower. But the first daffodi...

Finger pricking.

If you've ever done a spinning demonstration, you will probably have heard the Sleeping Beauty question at least once. If I had a Euro for every time that I've heard it... well, I'd be a good bit richer than I am.

Especially for people who only know a (flyer) spinning wheel as handspinning tool, the question about where you could prick your finger is a vexing one. Then, when people see a hand-spindle, they sort of jump on the possibility that this could be The Thing! My usual reaction is to offer them a glass of beer and a band-aid if they manage to draw blood using my spindle. Up until now, nobody has taken me up on it...

A while ago, the question also came up on a German facebook group page that I'm in. I'm not on FB much, mind you - but occasionally I check stuff, and even more occasionally, something makes me feel the urge to write an answer. In that case, I did a short bit on the topic and put it on my website, and now I've finally translated it into English. So if you feel like reading a bit more about it, you can go here and check out The Sleeping Beauty Question. And of course, please feel free to link to this if the question pops up in your bit of the internet, and you think it would be helpful!
0
Old things, new things.
Texts, pictures, sighs.
 

Comments 4

Miriam (website) on Freitag, 02. März 2018 12:54

In old versions of the story, she gets a splinter in her finger from 'pricking' it. The prince does not wake her with a kiss, he rapes her in her sleep. She is woken after she gives birth to twins and one of the children, trying to find his mother's milk, instead finds her fingertip and sucks on it, removing the splinter...

Yeah, old versions of fairytales are nasty.

In old versions of the story, she gets a splinter in her finger from 'pricking' it. The prince does not wake her with a kiss, he rapes her in her sleep. She is woken after she gives birth to twins and one of the children, trying to find his mother's milk, instead finds her fingertip and sucks on it, removing the splinter... Yeah, old versions of fairytales are nasty.
Katrin on Dienstag, 06. März 2018 15:14

So they are. Not intended for children... or, well, very useful in showing the young ones how the world works.

So they are. Not intended for children... or, well, very useful in showing the young ones how the world works.
Olga on Montag, 16. November 2020 21:31

I pricked my hand (palm, not finger, though) and drew some blood with a homemade drop spindle once, while catching it clumsily. That was because the shape of my spindles was wrong - I had made them pointy like pencils.

I pricked my hand (palm, not finger, though) and drew some blood with a homemade drop spindle once, while catching it clumsily. That was because the shape of my spindles was wrong - I had made them pointy like pencils.
Katrin on Montag, 23. November 2020 15:03

Ouch! That sounds painful.
Did you blunt the end of the spindle afterwards?

Ouch! That sounds painful. Did you blunt the end of the spindle afterwards?
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