Showing posts with label Russian spindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russian spindle. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Lap Support Spindle Bowl

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Look what came in the mail today! Another gorgeous item from Grizzly Mountain Arts. This is made of Ambrosia maple wood and is made beautifully. It sits in between my legs and I use my Russian spindle with it. I am all set up and ready to go!

Tonight I am going to ply some silk. Last night after I spun the cob weight silk, I found it to be rather difficult to knit on my needles. I'll have to try and crochet it as I have some extremely small needles that may work better.




Monday, June 4, 2012

Spinning Silk

Monday, June 4, 2012

I didn't like the way the baby alpaca felt after I spun it. It was wirey and scratchy. I think I may have spun it too tight. I'll go back to it at a later time.

I was eager to try spinning silk on my new Russian spindle. I have lots of silk hankies and started some on a drop spindle. But, it was super easy on the Russian spindle! I could easily spin cobweb weight! So, I believe for now I will practice my exquisite heirloom range items in 100% silk.

Below in the pictures you can see the cobweb weight I was able to spin with the silk and a thicker strand complete with some nubs.



Over the Weekend

It was a nice and quiet weekend with some productivity. Dave and I went to an information day for the local volunteer ambulance service. Dave already volunteers for the SES and fire brigade and basically went along with me for support and the free sausage sizzle. :-) Our local ambo service is now down to four volunteers! It's something I have always been curious about and wanting to do. But, I wanted to gather the information and go home to have a think about it. When we got home Dave said he was going to sign up! So, I also made up my mind to volunteer also. They give you a three month trial period and I'll see how I go during that period.

Also over the weekend I taught myself to use a Russian support spindle. I really like this method as I can sit in my recliner with a cat on my lap while watching tv and spin! I find this method so much more relaxing than the spinning wheel. I am wanting to be able to spin lace weight (cobweb weight) yarn to make lace-y items. The picture below is of some brown cria (baby alpaca) fleece. Last night I washed two skeins I spun up and today I'll knit and crochet them. I haven't plied them, because I want to see if un-plied fine yarn will hold up.





The spindle is handmade from Grizzly Mountain Arts, located in Oregon, USA. These are exquisite pieces of art and I'm so happy with my purchase. He doesn't take orders as he can't keep up with the demand. Instead, he posts on his FB when he has listed spindles in his Etsy shop. You have to be quick, as the are sold within minutes! I am very lucky to have gotten one! Grizzly Mountain Arts

My Russian spindle is a Mini Myrtlewood Russian Support Spindle Travel Set. It weighs 15 grams (.48 ounces) with both bead rings on, 14 grams(.45 ounces) with one bead ring and 13 grams (.42 ounces) with no bead rings. So, it's actually three different size spindles in one! This may be my new method of spinning as it so portable.

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