WOYWW 161 - Crafty Spinster Fun

OK, I'm not really spinning a bobbin full of wool at my desk, but my Lendrum Single Treadle spinning wheel won't fit on the desk, so I just showed you the bobbin. This is 4 ounces of a lovely hot pink, purple and orange roving purchased many years ago. I'm going to ply it with a lovely burnt orange for a novelty yarn using a technique that makes an intermittent bit of fluff. It will be my second entry into our local fair.

BTW, when I say spinster, I'm referring to the old skool definition one who spins wool (or other fibers) into yarn (or embroidery thread). The rest of my guild (except for my daughter) refer to themselves as spinners, which to me means people clad in lycra furiously pedaling stationary bicycles. I am a spinster :D.

Spinning is one of those things you can learn in less than a minute (it's twisting fibers together so they make yarn, rope, thread) and yet you can spend the rest of your life trying new techniques and fibers, so it can always be something different.

I have three wheels, but I mostly spin with spindles which are infinitely more portable than wheels. Plus each spindle is different, so one can rarely have too many :D. Also, spindles tend to be looked down on as a beginners tool, so I give them lots of love. I've been spinning since 1978 when I bought lessons from a member of the secret spinning police, but that's a tale for another day lol.

Three of my favorite spindles. The one on the left is a Bosworth Moosie (the whorl is made of moose antler) with unfleached flax top on it. The one in the middle is also a Bosworth, but I forget the type of wood. The one on the right is one I made with a toy wheel, a bit of dowel and an eye hook and then covered in a semi-irregular peyote stitch made with three different types of beads and is being used to spin some dyed silk cap.

My current purse project (in a plastic pencil case) another spindle I made with a wooden toy wheel, a dowel and a eye hook which I'm using to spin some navajo churro wool.

The top of the spindle. And in the upper left in the background is my sample of the plied wool from the first picture.

So that's what's going on in my crafty bit of the world, if you want to see more, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander at what other people are doing. Better yet, take a picture and join in the fun :D.