Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Quick break

Yes, I've been knitting/editing furiously, despite having come down with the flu (better now, though) but I have snuck a few moments here and there to do other things "just because."

For instance, I made a spindle!


It spins GREAT-- and for a loooooong time. Here's what I did:
Materials: An old size 11 bamboo needle (from a Suss Cousins shawl kit I bought years ago on clearance at Barnes and Noble), a round, flat stone with a hole in the center, about 2 1/4" in diameter (bought at Michael's for about $3 in the bead department), some stretchy illusion jewelry cord (had lying around, but originally bought at Michael's) and a small cup hook.
What to do: 1. Slip the stone over the needle, leave up at the top near the cap. 2. Beneath the stone, at the point you want the whorl to be, start wrapping the illusion cord TIGHTLY, narrower at the edges and thicker in the middle, about 1/2" wide in total, until the center of the cord wrapped part is a bit bigger than the hole in the stone. 3. Tie off the cord. 4. Gently force the whorl down over the cord wrapped part. It should be nice and snug. 5. Screw the cup hook into the cap of the needle.

That's it. You might want to put a dab of glue where the knot was tied to keep it secure (I did).

Also, I learned to Navajo ply on my spindle:

(The wool is some Blue Faced Leicester I bought at Knit Michigan from The Spinning Loft).

And here's the sock I haven't been knitting much lately:


That's it. Guess I'd better get back to work... especially because a really exciting thing is arriving on Thursday (my birthday is coming early this year!!) and I want to be able to play with it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the spindle tutorial!!! I have one that someone made for me and it's useless. I've never used a spindle before, but I can get the hands going properly, and could actually make yarn if the spindle would spin!!! I'm going to Michael's to get a stone like that. Perfect idea. The weight of it will keep the spindle doin' its thing!!! Big hug for a great idea!!!! :0) samm

Amanda said...

Wow... You did the Navajo Ply on the Spindle? I wish I had your patience. I think I am going to get that golding spindle you mentioned earlier as you said it spins forever. I got to get spinning again. I have to make time for it. It's so fun.

Glad you are feeling better.

Amy said...

Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as I thought. It actually went pretty fast once I got the hang of it. :)

And yes, do get the Golding!

Shorty said...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. "You are my inspiration!"

I may even have to try my hand at spining, just to have an excuse to make that beautiful spindle.

"Happy Early Birthday!!!"

Larjmarj said...

Digging the sock and thanks for the tutorial on the spindle. Now I have NO excuse.

I'll bet I know what you're getting.......

Construction Cleaning Rancho Santa Margarita said...

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