It is not that I haven't been creating, I suppose it is just that I have not spent as much time documenting my process as I used to. But I do have some photos to share that will give you an idea of what has consuming my creative time these days.
In my last few posts I talked about my journey into spinning.....at that point I was using spindles to spin yarn but that all changed last summer when I had the opportunity to acquire my very own spinning wheel.
Those of you who have followed me for years know that I LOVE a challenge. My wheel was new....but here is the thing....it left the factory in 1985 exactly how I got it....in pieces, in a box, in need of sanding, finishing and assembly....so the brand new wheel I put together in 2019 was actually 34 years old....how cool is that?!
here it is assembled and working wonderfully
In July, I was gifted this vintage Book Charkha which is a fascinating device with such an interesting history.
You likely also know that I kinda like to try to build my own tools when I can. Because I have a nice supply of raw fleece to process, I was interested in getting some wool combs for prepping fibre that I could spin on the spinning wheel....but holy cow they are very expensive and while I am sure they are worth the cost I was not prepared to spend a lot of $$$ until I could see if it was something I would enjoy doing regularly......so I set out to make my own.
I found some onions holders on a clearance rack which was great cause if the experiment did not work, I wouldn't be out much.....Bonus!
I cut the plastic handles off, used some very strong double sided tape to hold them together slightly offset. I used a "found" hardwood shelf to cut into a couple of blocks of wood that the "tines" would be placed into. I borrowed my son's Dremel tool to hollow out a cavity in those blocks. that was a little labour intensive but remember....I do like a challenge.
Once the cavity was clean and smooth I filled it with the onion holders, sawdust and wood glue. handles were made very simply with doweling. (if I ever do this again I will do something different as this is not the most ergonomic on the hands)
in the image below you can see the raw fleece locks on the left and the combed fibre on the right
These combs may not be pretty but they are holding up to the rigors of combing and actually work quite well.
My latest obsession is a result of this book I got a couple of weeks ago. It is Arne and Carlos Field Guide to Knitted Birds. oh my.....the book is gorgeous and these little birds are just way too much fun to knit and a wonderful way to use small bits of my hand spun yarn ( all but the black one in the photo have been knitted with yarn I processed, dyed and spun.)
I will try not to let so much time pass before my next post....but you can always find me on Instagram
just click the Instagram icon in the upper right corner of this blog.
3 comments:
OK, I award you the "mother of the year" award! You are so inventive and make use of items to "make them work"!!! You are still my idol!!
Oh my goodness!! An artist ever evolving! So very cool to see those pieces assembled and working as they were meant to. And your birds!!! There just aren't enough exclamation points....they are so cute!!! Have you seen the book, Knit Your Own Dog?
More than Mother of the Year -- you're like the Pioneer Woman of the craft world. You never cease to amaze, and, yes, you DO love a challenge. There's something immensely satisfying about creating your own tools to do the job at hand, isn't there? And those birds are priceless! Keep going, Jill -- we can't wait to see what's on the horizon for you.
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