Saturday, June 8, 2013

Spindle love is growing

My collection of support spindles has grown again. I have not settled down to a large project with them as yet. Just playing with small samples of fiber. I purchased a TwistedGrain Wee Bee from a lovely gal that could not stand the smell of the wood. It is Tamboti and I love the smell. Reminds me of Sandalwood. Then I stumbled upon someone that is just starting to make and sell spindles. Hipstrings. This little dynamo spins cotton like magic. I think there will be another with a larger whorl in my future. The whorl is laser etched and the shaft is carbon-fiber. The first photo is most of the support spindles. Some are homemade by me. Always sticking a bead on a knitting needle or a bamboo skewer to see *what if.*.... The following photos have more information. Looking at the spindles like this makes me think I should settle down and get some spinning done! I do have some sock yarn in progress on one wheel. I have been spending a lot of time knitting and making bobbin lace. Just not enough time in a day!


Dervish and Pu Yok with bowl by Malcolm Fielding. Merino and Merino/bamboo.

 Some I have made. Carved jade, carved bone, ceramic bead, two glass beads. All on double point knitting needles. Pink is silk. The others are cotton.
 Two that my special friend made for me. The one on the right is what pushed me down the rabbit hole of support spindling. That is Shetland and Alpaca. It is a drawer pull with a glass donuts. The other is felted around a bead.
 Texas Jeans ebony and birds-eye maple Russians. My Coopworth on the ebony and Shetland on the maple.
 MaryBearsOsoCrafty made these. The left is oak and the right is cedar. It smells wonderful!
 My friend Alden Amos made this coin spindle for me. Yak
 Great cotton spinner by hipstrings. Laser etched whorl with carbonfiber shaft. SHARP tips. Spinning some natural green cotton.
 Bristlecone twindle that I won in the Earth Day giveaway. It is such a wonderful spinner! The focal is green and there is wood burning on the shaft to look like birch bark. Bristlecone can be found on Artfire.
 This Spanish Peacock Russian is made from Holly. It was a trade for one of my knitting bags. I think I got the best of the deal! Spinning some Bombyx silk that I dyed.
 Phil Powell of Custom Wood Designs made these two wonderful spinners. They have metal tips and spin like crazy. The left is Holly with some wool/silk/angelina, and the right is birds-eye maple with the same fibers. I blended both.
 Enid Ashcroft Russian. Cocobolo
 This is the Wee Bee that Julie could not keep. The shaft is carbonfiber and the whorl is Tamboti wood. Made by Twisted Grain.
Lisa Chan of GrippingYarns made these two spindles. They are the Rose which is a hybred of a French and Russian spindle. . The left is A. Lignum Vitae and the right is Purpleheart.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

My Birthday gifts from me to me.

This year's birthday gifts from me to me are two spindles by Phil Powell of Custom Wood Designs. The Birds-eye Maple weighs 21 grams and the Holly weighs 18 grams. Love them both. The fiber is from World of Wool. It is botany Lap Waste that I have blended on my Richard Duncan drum carder. I added some Firestar to the greens and silver Angelina to the purple. Just a wee bit of shine. I have only been spinning with support spindles for about a year. Drop spindles for a few years and 30+ years on wheels.Wonder why it took me so long to discover support spindles? Loving them.


Birds-Eye Maple
                                                                                           
Holly

Saturday, April 27, 2013

I won a Twindle!

I won!

On Earth Day I won a support spindle from Bristlecone Artisan Heirlooms. This is a Twindle. It is called Birch Tree. See the lovely green focal? See the wood burning that made it look like a Birch Tree? This spindle makes me very happy.

 Two very talented people create these magical tools. Here are some photos of  the * unavailing*.

The packaging is special. 
There is always candy and a fiber sample.
Can't wait to sample.
 The spindle is fast and the fiber is lovely.
Finished sample fiber. What will be next? Maybe some cotton...........or silk.........

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Playing with blending colors and making batts.

I ordered 500 grams  (17.637 ounces) of Botany Lap Waste from World of Wool. No choices of what is in the bag. (colors, blends or amounts) Mostly Merino and Merino blends. There was one lot of Tussah silk too.  Here is my surprise. Click on any photo to make it larger.
I then proceeded to play with my drum carder, blending colors.
Some 2 ply samples to see how the combinations look.

This is the blend of the red and white in the first photo blended with white angora rabbit. 



 This is the 500 gram lot. Blended fibers and some samples and skeins. The pink is what is being spun in the previous photo. 122 yards of 2 ply. The lovely gray called out for some silver Angelina. Can't wait to spin that lot!
I decided to blend some Angelina into the lavender and purple. Silver in the lavender and copper into the purple. I hope you can see the sparkle of the Angelina in the photos. I tried not to be too heavy handed with it so it will be subtle in the yarn. I like making batts on the carder. Storage I think is better if the batts are rolled into balls. Sometimes I pull the batt off of the carder through a diz to make a long strip of roving. Those are stored as little nests.  
I am sure this will not be my only order from World of Wool. I will be playing with my own farm raised fiber too. So much fun. 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Amari Shawl

Just finished the Amari shawl.  Three shades of green batts from The Fibre Fairy are now spun and the shawl is finished and being blocked.  I increased the size so I could use all of my yarn. Got a bit nervous at the end. I used all but four yards. That was close!  Very happy with it. Blocked out to 25 X 60 inches.
Progress photos:

Wednesday, February 13, 2013


Here is my latest support spindle acquisition. It is a Mary Bears Oso in cedar. It smells wonderful! I do not usually name things, but this one said it should be The Painted Pony. I spun the sample of BFL blend that came with the first cedar. I sent that one back to Mary as it was too heavy for my taste. She graciously made another and it is just the right weight. I wound off the yarn onto a winding star that friend Cheryl made for me.
I have finished the three shades of green. Now to ply.