It's been a long, long time...

I kind of took a break from most crafting, even spinning.  I've been getting back to it lately though.

I'm still turning spindles, plus I made a darning mushroom on Friday.  It's a bit on the small side because that was the largest blank I had, but it's kind of cute!

Though it's poplar, so part of it was turning green before I got some Danish oil on it.

I even tried reproducing an antique Sami drop spindle:

The stone whorl comes off, and I made it so it will work as a supported spindle as well.  As a supported it works really well without the whorl. :-)  There is another antique Scandinavian spindle I want to reproduce but it will probably be awhile before I get to it.

I also created another supported spindle:

My friend calls it "Spinner's Heart", as the whorl is supposed to be shaped as a heart.  I need to work on the shaping a bit more, but it's a nice spindle - surprisingly zippy. :-)


I've been knitting a bit, this is a Wisp scarf:

I've made a lot of mistakes while knitting it, but I don't think they will be too obvious.


I also started a new weaving project - a Sky Scarf!  This is January:

I'm really behind on it though, I haven't woven on it since the last day of February so I have a lot to catch up on!  It's a really fun weave though!

Oh and DH got me a new camera for Christmas, so the pictures on the blog should be better now.  It's a bit fancy for me though! :-) 

Hopefully I will get back to blogging a bit more regularly. ::fingers crossed::

Time flies so quickly part deux...

Oops - I forgot to post this!  And it's been almost a month!  ACK!  I need to get back into the habit of posting a bit more often - maybe I'll get more crafty stuff done as well.

I continued spinning the spindle TdF project, which is CHF silk on my tibetan:

And I finished the first half of the TDF wheel project, on the Finn (a CHF gradient) and wound it off the one bobbin, but apparently I forgot to take a picture.  Since one of the dogs bumped the wheel causing the flyer to fall out - of course landing on the weak end of the flyer shaft - I had to wait til DH re-straightened the shaft.  I've added a bit of brass tubing to protect the thin part as well, and it seems like it will work.  I plan to start the second half if I ever finish the project on the Penguin.

First though, I wanted to finish the CHF Blue Mountain Coffee on the smaller Reeves, and the e-plyer got it's first real test:

As you can see, it worked, but it could use some fine-tuning.  The motor isn't really variable so it goes awfully fast for the carpet warp I was using as a drive band.  Also there was some slippage, but I found a rubberband to put on the motor shaft to remedy that.  I still need to wind that into a skein.

My September and October spindle project has been A Dyeing Wish's Enterprise spin-along on my baatara spindles:

That spindle holds a lot of fiber!

And I started another project on the Penguin.  This is an arty batt from A Dyeing Wish in her Monet series:

It's going to be very slubby!

I've also bought her first supported spindle!

The color is a little off in this photo - the stone and fiber are much bluer.  She's just got a lathe and is working on Russian spindles, so keep your eyes peeled on her Etsy shop!


I've not been in the woodshop much, but have made this mini-phang in jatoba wood for a friend:

That's one of those M&M candies tubes.  I've since made a second that's even better, but haven't taken a photo yet.

And I've started another knitting project, a Wisp scarf from the never-ending cone of Forsell Velvateen.  I love how this stuff looks and drapes when it's finished, but it's a royal PITA to work with.  But look - pretty, no?

(It would look even better if this hadn't been a night picture.)

In the sad news department, we lost Boss Dog in August. :-(  We all miss her terribly.

VOTE!!!

To everyone in the United States - GO VOTE TOMORROW!

 

For EVERYONE'S future!

Time flies so quickly...

Not a lot of crafty stuff has been going on.  Thanks to the Unfuck Your Habitat blog I have been doing some serious decluttering.  I started with the wheel room as it was so cluttered as to be useless.  I went through almost everything (one spot by the door still needs work) and it's a much more functional and pleasant room now.  And it's still mostly like these pictures:

Though I still need to move the Finnish wheel to use the great wheel, it's much much easier to get to the great wheel now. :-D  And the blue table is only up to hold the super-confusing knitting project - once I either figure it out or get it done that will be folded up and put away.

I've also been working on the basement storeroom, which is involving taking a dropped ceiling out at the same time so it's taking quite a bit of time, hence the limited crafting time.


I did finally finish the log cabin piece that has been on my Harp for ages:

I still don't know what I'm going to use it for; I'm leaning towards using it a spinning wheel cover.

On the knitting front, I got a bit further with the Hypernova shawl but I haven't touched it for quite awhile now:

 So I'll have no idea what I'm doing when I pick it back up again. :-)


And on the non-crafty front, I've been acquiring fountain pens, which nicely fit in a cedar chest that was being underutilized:

I used to buy Shaeffer cartridge fountain pens when I was in junior high and high school ages ago and loved writing with them, so I've been searching for something similar as they aren't made anymore.  These are my current fountain pens:

The top ( Zebra V-301) and bottom (Pilot Penmanship) pens are my current favorites, though the blue pen is a close second (Ohto Dude).  The drawback of the Zebra is sometimes it stops writing, though it will write if I rotate the pen so as to use the top side of the nib, and then it will start writing normally again. 

I also bought a lovely glass dip pen, which is quite nice to write with:

All of that writing was done with one dip of the pen. :-)  I'm looking forward to writing with it more!

I think I'll do the spinning update in a second post - and get a bit more done. :-)

Ugh...

So this is what happens when you're in the middle of a loooong heat wave:

That blew on the hottest day (predicted, 106F; actual probably 104F).  Luckily, the weather started cooling off a bit that night, we kept the house closed up so it didn't get too bad inside, and the a/c tech was able to fix it early the next morning.  Whew!

This past month I've been participating in the Tour de Fleece.  I of course didn't get my wheel project finished, and not even quite half finished as I didn't get a lot of weekend-spinning-time as I had planned, but it's beautiful stuff.  It's a gradient from Corgi Hill Farm that I'm spinning on the antique Finn:

I'm thisclose to finishing the first braid (I have two).  I *love* spinning on the Finn, even though she's a rattle-y old girl. :-D

I also practiced spinning cotton on a bead spindle (best way to do it, imo):

And started spinning some lovely tussah silk from Corgi Hill Farm on my tibetan:

On the first rest day, I built a kick spindle. :-D

And on the second rest day, after a couple of minor tweaks, I spun on it at Spin Club:

It's pretty fun to spin on, once you get the hang of it. :-D

TdF ended so I did some celebratory spinning on a Tilt a Whorl drop spindle:

This is a really fun little spindle, it has pinwheel vanes! :-D

I got some really pretty merino/yak fiber in the mail from a friend:

 and Corgi Hill Farm had a 'fire sale' as she's moving, so I got a couple more braids that I didn't need. :-)

And I decided to participate in an unofficial team for the Ravellenic Games (used to be Ravelympics, but the U.S. Olympic organization got their knickers in a twist over a bunch of knitters using 'lympics' in something they weren't involved in :-P).  I decided to knit a Hypernova shawlette to learn charts, though as many times as I've frogged and restarted the first 5 rows I'm thinking that might not have been a prudent choice (I'm really glad I decided to not use my handspun for it).  I did finally get through the first (tiny) chart though, and I'm hoping I've figured it out:

The hours I've spent on this tiny bit... sigh.  I'm using my one skein of Woolese Sport Strawberry Twist, and probably don't have enough for the pattern but if necessary I could probably finish it with some Blueberry Twist - I have a *lot* of that.

I'm also cleaning and reorganizing the stash/wheel room because it's been a disaster ever since I brought the last two wheels home.  And I've made some progress - I now have a spot for the small Reeves and can actually walk to the Wall o'Fiber without having to move anything. :-)  I've been following this blog for inspiration, and it's working pretty well - I even worked on my kitchen some this morning!  You folks with i-Phones/i-Pads can even buy an app for it, which looks really handy, and she's working on getting an Android app out which I'm really looking forward to. :-D

And... I see I've missed a pooch.  Boss Dog coming up!

She was trying to stay awake, but just couldn't do it. :-)

Wow...

How did it get to be almost-July already?  I've not been particularly productive, though I did make some spindles:

And 'designed' what I'm calling a 'pixie phang' - a smaller-than-usual phang.  Here it is next to my usual-sized phang:

Isn't it cute?  Spins nicely too. :-)

And I made some bead spindles:

A friend send me the bottom beads in the above photo, and another friend gave me a couple of bead spindles that she had made - she made the whorls from modeling clay and Fimo!

 

And another friend sent me some glass beads from Cornwall!

 So cool! :-)

And I bought a Tibetan spindle from a new maker, and it spins wonderfully!!

I even did a bit of spinning:

though not as much as last month.  I've mostly been fiddling around and not getting much accomplished.

I started a project on the lovely dragon spindle though:

I thought the fiber would be shinier than it is, as there is silk and BFL in the mix with some other fiber, but I think it may have a bit of a gleam to it in the right light.  It's going to be pretty even if isn't shiny. :-D

And I wound off the bobbin on The Finn though, as the Tour de Fleece starts Saturday and I'll be using her for one of the teams. :-)  I'm also doing a supported-spindle challenge - I want to get more proficient at spinning cotton, so that will be my goal for that team.  On The Finn I'll be spinning my first gradient.  Should keep me busy! :-)

Whoops!

I guess time really got away from me - though I don't have a lot to report.  I've been sticking with spinning this month again, and in particular trying to get some small samples spun up.  This is what I started with:



And I'm doing better than I expected - I'll post what I've managed to accomplish this month in June. 

I've also acquired some spindles - one was a gift and huge surprise!



It's also difficult to photograph, but it's a beautiful Bristlecone Glindle with a dragon burned onto the shaft. :-D  She's lovely and I hope to start something on her next month. :-D

And I bought another supported Tilt-a-Whorl:

Isn't she cute??  And she spins a treat - possibly even better than the first one!  I've not done much on her yet due to trying to get other things finished, but I love it already!  I also bought a stone-whorl drop spindle from A Dyeing Wish on Etsy that I haven't had a chance to check out at all:

 
 because I fell in love with it's bead.  I may end up turning it into a supported spindle since I don't use drop spindles very often.  And I made some bead spindles from some sparkly beads that I found in WalMart's earring section. :-D  And a spindling travel kit - this is awesome:



You can see a shorty sparkly bead spindle in there, and the Tilt-a-Whorls fit in there too.  And in last month's travels I found a brass bowl to put in there - perfect!  If I use the spindles with metal shafts I can leave this in the car and not worry much about it. :-)

I spent some time in the woodshop this weekend and made a couple of phangs, a wrist distaff, and small spinning bowl, so I haven't spent much time spinning.  Though this afternoon I've been doing bits of spinning here-and-there, and am about to get back to spinning some very nubby silk on a Nepalese spindle that a friend made for me.


I took an afternoon off a couple of weeks ago and took The Finn out onto the deck to spin for a bit since it was so nice.  Here is what my view looked like:



Looks like he's captaining a ship, doesn't he?! LOL