That's right, folks, I'm getting into spinning. Well, back into spinning, I should say. I used to do it every other weekend when I was a tour guide at Noah Webster's birthplace. That was... oof... about a decade ago. (Dang, that makes me feel old.) Since my mother has my never-worked-right-anyway Ashford wheel, and I'm very, very far from being able to afford my dream wheel, I decided to make myself a spindle.
In the footsteps of Alton Brown, I firmly believe that tools should be able to multi-task. Since I'm not sure how long it'll be before I can afford my dream wheel, and I don't know what variety of fibers I'll be spinning in the meantime, I've made this spindle so it can be either a high-whorl or a low-whorl. Sounds technical to non-spinners, doesn't it? All it means is that I notched both ends of the shaft. (Why not hooks? Simple: I don't like them.)
Above: notch for low-whorl use. Below: notch for high-whorl use.
Now I need to dig out some fiber. I gave my cards away a while back, so I can't really do anything with the grey fleece that's been sitting in the attic for the last decade... it's a PITA to work with even under the best circumstances. What I'll probably work with is the sample bag of merino/silk that I got at a fiber festival ages ago. It's an ambitious first project, but spinning is something fingers remember how to do, even after years of disuse.
Wish me luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment