[MR] SCA knowledge in real life

[Michelle L. McDaniel]

Hey all!

I just had a really great thing happen at work! I got to talk about my
favorite hobby, spinning at work! 

Someone working on a paper about Marsden Hartley (an American artist
working in the early 20th cent. There's a retrospective on him at one of the
museums in DC) wanted to know if a particular image of what is usually
interpreted as a star (and invoking Christian iconography) could be
interpreted as a spinning wheel. I was able to talk to him about the history
of spinning wheels (and other fiber craft tools), their travel from the Far
East, and appearance in Persian miniatures and medieval manuscripts. This is
all stuff I wouldn't necessarily know if I wasn't working on documenting
spinning and when they appeared where and the types of wheels used, etc. 

There really can be practical, real-life applicability for all that stuff
we research for fun!

**aelfwynn** who's currently masquerading as an archival cataloguer ;-)