Crafty in a Good Way

My brand new toy - Jenkins Turkish Spindle

I recently went out of town and decided that before I left, I must have a Turkish drop spindle so I could spin some yarn while I was out of town. That makes sense, right? A new purchase with some good reasoning behind it? I did some research and found a terrific all-wood spindle with terrific balance. It was delivered in no time and sha-zam! I was addicted. I even stayed up three hours past my bedtime to play!

The spindle (pictured with my cat Woody, who loves the camera) came from Jenkins Woodworking. I called Wanda up to see what supply they had - the Amboyna Wood spoke to me so I got it and her instructional book. I got the spindle in just a few days, and read her handy-dandy book. I'd used other drop spindles and did not have the success with them that I had with this terrific piece. I was spinning within minutues of trying it out! Kudos to Wanda and Ed for their great craftsmanship on these spindles!

I've included some swatches from the first spinning I did (the white is alpaca roving, the pink and blue is superwash wool).

I also included a pair of mittens I knitted. The purple stripes in the mittens are made of my first-ever drop spindled yarn made from the beautiful roving Wanda includes with her shipment. DELIGHTFUL.

BTW, one of the best things about the drop spindle is that you can take it anywhere and people seem really interested in what the heck that crazy lady is doing. I have gotten so many inquiries about it. I get to tell them it's the oldest or one of the oldest ways of making yarn on the planet, that people figured out how to make a center pull ball to ply the yarn on itself, etc. They always seem pretty impressed, or maybe they just smile because I'm crazy? Of course my goal is to convert everyone on the planet to love fiber as much as I do! Heh, heh, heh. Oh, and the dogs like it too. They lay under it and STARE. Sweet.