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.

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.........

I bought some gradient batts from The Fibre Fairy. Three shades of green that are blends of Merino, Shetland Lamb, Polworth, Alpaca, Silk, and Firestar. Wonderful stuff!
I spun the darkest first. Today I started on the lightest and then I will spin the medium shade. I will do a bobbin of each shade and then ply on itself. I want to knit a shawl that is shaded from light at the top to dark on the bottom with the yarn. Not sure just yet what pattern I will use. It will depend on the yardage I get.

This photo shows all three shades of green.

Darkest in progress

Lightest. I tear the batts into thinner strips before spinning.

This shows the darkest and the lightest. I must say that AJs' batts are so wonderful to spin. They practically spin themselves!

I have been adding to my collection of support spindles. First came the Rose from Gripping Yarns. It is Lignum Viate.The wood smells like roses. Next I ordered spindles from Malcolm Fielding. I am waiting on their arrival so no photos yet. I ordered a Cocobolo Russian from Enid Ashcroft in the UK. (3)  I found a Texas Jeans  maple spindle (1) while at Lambtown in the Carolina Homespun booth. When I got back home again I had an offer to trade one of my knitting bags for a Spanish Peacock holly spindle.(2) I jumped on that right quick! I also have been making support spindles to see what works. I had some carved disks and with a double point knitting needle and a grommet, they weigh 7 grams each. They spin silk quite well. I am slowly progressing with some silk that I dyed on the holly spindle. I have been spinning for 30 years on wheels and took up drop spindles a few years ago. Just now getting into support spindles and I love them.

Support Spindle Bowls

I have fallen down the rabbit hole. Now I am on the look out for bowls to use with support spindles, of course more support spindles and ways to store them. These fabric bowls were made by a dear friend. They function as bases for wood, glass or ceramic support spindle bowls. Keep the bowls from slipping off your lap or leg. Sometimes I use a lap bowl as the Gin Glass in a previous post and sometimes I use a shallow bowl in my lap or on a table or beside me in a chair.

Spindle with Gin Glass

 

Here we have a work in progress on a support spindle. The lap bowl is working quite well. So glad that Cheryl bought that Gin! :-)  The glass works equally well in the wide bowl and in the base. Sort of a two for one thing. I am really enjoying support spindling. I have some on order from Malcolm Fielding. Cannot wait for them to arrive.

Birthday Spindle

I was gifted a lovely support spindle from a dear friend. She made it from a hardwood dowel, a
porcelain drawer pull and a glass donut. The cork came from a bottle of wine. How cute is that with a sheep printed on it?

Why yes, I do knit socks.....

I have been knitting socks for many years. Once long ago I read a pattern and when I got to the turn the heel instructions I balked. "Oh no, I do not think I can do that" went through my head. One day I saw and article in Spin-Off by Celia Quinn on knitting boot socks. With the article and the Elizabeth Zimmerman book that Celia mentions I decided to take the plunge. I figured if I got stuck I could ask for help.One step at a time is good in many situations. Go forward until you are at the end or get stuck and either figure it out, or ask for help. I managed to knit a pair of socks following the instructions even when I thought things did not look right. It worked! I was then on the path to being a sock knitter. I even had a pair of hand spun dog hair and wool socks published in Spin-Off.  Now these many years later I always have at least one pair in progress so I have something to do while waiting in a doctor's office or at the auto repair shop, etc. I used double points for a very long time and finally tried two socks at a time on two circular needles and now also the magic loop on one circular. A few years ago I tried toe up and that is my preferred method. Three pair in progress in the picture are 3 ply hand spun BFL that I had blended with 20% nylon at the mill. I dyed the yarn in balls, sitting them first into one color and then turning the balls over into another color. This is a fun way to dye and I like the results.  From top left the socks are; Jojoland Melody, (magic loop)   Drops Fabel Superwash, (magic loop) and the other three are my hand spun. (double points)  The first pair was done with peacock and old rose, second is a mix of color to cover up the screaming orange from the first dip into the pot. The last is done in purple and forest green. However, there are only a few spots of green showing, it turned into a nice gray where the dye mixed. Not bad, but not what I was aiming for either. I will be playing more with this technique, but first I must get more sock yarn spun.

Another Great Retreat and improvisation

The past weekend was spent with wonderful friends at our annual retreat. There was lots of spinning and knitting and some really great food. The weather was very cool and we had wind and rain. Perfect for wearing wool socks and woolies. Although a bit cool and damp for spinning on the deck. So many laughs that my sides are still sore. My cheeks hurt too come to think of it. My daughter in law tried her hand at spinning using a crochet hook to get the feel of twisting. I did not have my twisty stick with me nor did Cheryl. So I improvised with a tip from an oak branch tip that I found on the deck while Cheryl made some hook sticks from a coat hanger. It is from plastic coated wire and about 8 inches long.

Kelley soon decided to try with a spinning wheel. She borrowed a Lendrum and got the hang of things pretty quickly. In a short while she  had a singles skein to take home. It is wonderful that my daughter in law wants to learn to spin. However, I may be creating a monster. She is a massage therapist and does massage during our retreat weekends. The gals may be upset with me if Kelley  would rather spin than do massages. Ha.

Wine and Wool

Yesterday was an adventure of wine tasting and wool spinning. A local winery was a great setting for demonstrating to the public and getting acquainted with some new fiber people.

Tivy Mt Vintners.

Cool in the shade.

Knitting and wine do go together.

Although it looks like the wine made her do it, she did not have a drop.

Using my Diz

I wish I had taken a picture when I first opened the fiber bundle. Guess I was just too excited to get started! This is the Aqua Fresca colorway from Lisa Souza. Zen Top. 50% Merino, 25% Tussah Silk, 25% Bamboo. The fiber was a bit compacted from dyeing. I opened the fibers and then stripped lengths and opened them even more. I am using a diz that I made from cow horn.(available in my etsy shop soon) Can't wait to start spinning. I love this fiber.

After opening a bit.


Through the diz.


See how it smooths the fiber.


Fiber *nests* ready to spin.

I have only just started the prep. This basket will be quite full when finished.

Back from the fiber mill

Six Coopworth and Shetland fleeces back from the mill. More coming. I am in the process of putting this mountain into manageable portions and then into storage. It feels so good in my hands. Cannot wait to sit and spin. I will be offering some of this loveliness in my etsy shop...keep checking.

Silk Cap Spinning

I introduced the group to spinning silk caps from swifts at yesterday's meeting. Some preferred pulling the caps into roving and spinning that way. We spun the silk that was dyed at our Roc Day gathering.





K. is knitting a sweater from her Shetland hand spun. She is using all the natural colors from her flock. Lovely.

Color change

I have dyed the cap and mitts with strawberry koolade. More to DIL's liking I think. The cap is on a hat blocker. Finished the baby feather and fan mitts for myself, but gave them to a friend, so it is back to square one. Good thing I have more of the yarn left.

I spent a few days with a friend while her husband was out of the country on a business trip. It was the most wonderful few days and as always, too short! We knitted and spun and had a lot of laughs. I got to try her lovely Alden Amos wheel and it spins smooth as buttah......for ever and ever. There are deer everywhere in the forest. Bucks, does and fawns of all ages and sizes. They come to nap and play just outside the fence. It was lovely to watch them as I sat knitting. We watched a lot of BBC DVDs and it was a bit difficult to pay attention when the deer were around. The moonlight in the forest was enchanting. Wonderful memories.