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.