Drop Spindling Progress

Here is my first skein made on the drop spindle. I plied it off yesterday--that's a story in itself! The drop spindle belongs to Joy at the Guild and I've had it on loan for a week, so by now, since I'm hooked, I'm working out how to get hold of one for myself. . . . by the way, the program that runs this blog insisted on placing this picture on it's side. I can't work out why, and after several attempts, I've decided to just leave it as is.

About the drop spindle: like most pieces of remarkably simple technology, it turns out that the drop spindle is more sophisticated than it looks. Yes, it's just a round lump of wood on a shaft with a hook on the end, but the proportions, the balance and weight distribution of that round lump of wood and the shape of the hook all affect the way it spins, and so affect the joy of spinning with it. It turns out this drop spindle I've been happily using is hand-turned by a skilled craftsman. There are various patterns for home-made drop spindles and I've been exploring the possibilities, but I don't expect to achieve the beautiful balance of this one.

The red and white lamp-work bead in the pic is part of my exploration of home-made drop spindle possibilities. I wondered whether I could add a shaft and hook to it and hey presto. Well, maybe, maybe not. Certainly it is round and nicely balanced, but the weight is all at the centre and I don't know how long it would keep spinning for me. So it might just have to go to a piece of jewelry after all.

One Size Fits All . . . NOT!

I took my chocolate silk cotton double weave fabric with me to a meeting the other day. For no other reason than that it's gorgeous and I wanted to share it with friends who appreciate such things. After a flurry of hand-washing, it was suitably petted and admired:)

I've had another go at photographing it to catch the shine and the interlacing of layers in the weave, but I must confess, I really am in love with this fabric, and you may well get tired of it before I do, so I'll try not to overdo it.

As for "one size fits all", while I'm on confessions, I may as well admit that I am not even close to my ideal weight at the moment. And I'd like to think of something I make out of this fabric as a piece I treasure for years to come. I'm hoping not to have to deal with my current figure challenges for years to come. So, I've pretty much decided to make a wrap, or something like that. Then no matter what, I'll be able to enjoy it. Meanwhile, I am enjoying its life as an exotic pet.

Shawl Pins

I love variety in my work. I love to twist and embellish. These shawl pins are a good example of that. They are based on small eucalypt branches: a little more substantial than twigs as I need a nice solid core of hard wood. I carve them to shape, then embellish them with artists wire and freshwater pearls. They each have a base ring of clear plastic to keep them secure without detracting from their beauty.

This is how they look on display--because of their unique shapes, it's hard to get them to all "face the front and smile for the photo", but I think you get the idea.
Here are the pieces I've been working on recently:

I've whittled away at the basic shapes, now it's time to sand them smooth. Then comes the wire and pearls. The whittling and smoothing takes the longest time. Compared with that the wire wrapping is relatively quick, so I try to get a batch ready to go before I cover my big table with jewellry tools, pearls and semi-precious stones.

New Toy

The first practical lesson in the Spinning Certificate course on Saturday was Drop Spindling. Spinning on a drop spindle is one of the most basic ways to spin. At first I was cursing, dropping the spindle and feeling incredibly uncoordinated. But after I while I got the hang of it and now it's starting to feel like fun. In fact, a drop spindle works on exactly the same principle as a child's toy top and it's has the same kind of fascination. At the same time I get to work with my favourite fibre in my hands. That sounds like a good deal.

On my Drying Rack

Here are the results of my "hot day, cold pad batch" dyeing efforts:
I only mixed up one colour. I had four skeins of off-white wool to dye. So I decided to go for different textures in blue and white.

• The one on the far left has eight tight cotton ties to prevent the dye contacting the wool in just those spots. Then I soaked the whole skein in the blue dye
• The next skein was folded in fourths and dipped in dye
• The next one, second from the right, I laid flat on a piece of plastic. I then squirted lines of dye across the skein with an old sauce bottle.
• The last skein was just folded on itself. Half was immersed in dye and I kept the other half out of the way.

The point of this technique--apart from the relief of "working" with water on a horribly hot day--is that the dye pretty much stays where I put it. So I can control where the colour goes on the skein.

. . . and double Light

On my way home yesterday I stopped at Bloom Fabrics (http://www.bloomfabrics.com.au/). I'd been promising myself a look at this fabulous looking fabric store for years: desiring the beauty, but dreading the cost! So when I drove past yesterday and saw the sign, "Clearance, Last Day 31 January", I just had to stop. The shop was nearly empty, but the few bolts, dresses and laces left on display confirmed my drive-by impressions.

When I found this fabric I was gone:

Silk-cotton double weave, almost sheer. The upper layer is chocolate coloured silk and the under layer, a fawn cotton, both incredibly light weaves with the double weave interaction of layers producing this effect.

• I had to buy it for its sheer beauty
• I had to buy it for its silk lustre
• I had to buy it for its tempting chocolate richness
• I had to buy it for the play of light and shade across its fine surface
• I had to buy it as a beautiful example of double-weave technique
• . . . and did I mention I just had to buy it!

Four and a half metres were left on the bolt--enough to make something. So far I have turned it into a skirt, an overblouse and an embellished stole in my imagination. For now, I'm treating it as an exotic pet: admiring and stroking it and thinking about it a lot.

Light and Transparency

First day of the Guild Spinning Certificate yesterday. I took a few minutes to browse in the library at lunchtime and came across this:
Doramay Keasbey, "Sheer Delight--Handwoven Transparencies"; Stellar Publishing House, Pettaluma, California, 1990.

It's a sort of anthology of Handwoven Transparencies, with some technical information and a Workshop section as well. I've hardly even skimmed the book, but the basic technique seems to be a combination of a stable, sheer plain weave, with decorative inlays. I'm keen to have a closer look.