Hot Off the Spindle

I've just finished up a round of plying some lovely lilac alpaca with gold firestar blended in to itself. See what you think:

The most recently plied is on the spindle on the right, which is an Avi Wasserman spindle. The spindle is huge, made of paduak and ebony, and I must confess, I do not love it as much as I ought. It is very nice for plying because of its size, but it doesn't have notches on the whorl, and I am just no good without those notches. So, if you've been longing to own an Avi, do let me know - perhaps we could trade a notched spindle in your collection for this one. Or maybe some mereno - I'm using up my wool, but I don't have any nice mereno, and I'm feeling much too thrifty to run out and buy some.

Now, you might be wondering what's going on with all that other fiber... I like to start with one blend and then ply it with other yarns to see what they look like. You might argue that five different colors of yarn won't make a sweater, but I think we all know that there are no sweaters in my future. I'll stick with the joy of blending, and my Mom can stick with making hats. And maybe scarves. And socks? They don't really have to match, do they?

I hit a school sale this week and picked up the lovely container in this picture. I know, you're supposed to keep your fiber heavily guarded in containers that don't let the light in, but what good is it to make yarn if you can't look at it? So I've taken to collecting containers of this ilk, and then lining them up on the entertainment center, in amongst the Legos.

I come by this containment system fetish fair and square - my Dad liked containment systems as well, though his preference was for bookshelves. Unfortunately, he didn't like the depth of a standard bookshelf, so he started asking my brother to cut all the bookshelves in half. My brother, who doesn't have a silly bone in his body, refused to cut the shelves in half because he said Dad would end up with two flimsy particle board book shelves, and the only way to use them would be to attach them to the walls. So, finally, I started taking them into town, where Dad convinced a fellow to cut them for him.

Now, you might ask why I went along on this junket, but all I can say is that given my own love of a good containment system as a mechanism for displaying one's stash, it didn't seem right for me to get in Dad's way. But I will confess that in the end my brother was right. We now have a basement full of particle board bookshelves that have been cut in half and attached to the walls because, well, they won't stay up any other way.

Art of My Art

So, my sister Leslie Knaup is a painter. And she painted a painting of my favorite things, my drop spindles, my fiber, and my Wizard of Clay pottery. The Wizard of Clay is a potter who has had a business for as long as we remember, near our old home in Honeoye, New York. I have Wizard of Clay dishes, Wizard of Clay flower pots, Wizard of Clay lamps, Wizard of Clay toothbrush holders. Oh, my, you're starting to think you've discovered another passion of mine, aren't you?

Now, the painting has been done for a while, but no photo was forthcoming. Fortunately, I found a digital camera at a garage sale that we think will meet my sister's needs, so we sent that, and she is off and running.

Anyway, back to the art. Not to put too fine a point on this, but the spindle on the left is my Golding spindle, and the spindle on the right is my Tom Forrester spindle. I love them both, though lately the Forrester spindle is holding a higher place in my heart because it is lighter weight. I am spinning a lot just now, and my arm is getting tired.

I think my painting is lovely, and I am very grateful to my sister for painting it. Of course, now she's set an expectation... what will she paint for me in August, when she comes to visit next? If you like what you see, just let me know and we'll see if you can't commission a work of art from Leslie. Imagine how nice your spinning wheel would look, or perhaps you have spindles and fiber that need to be memorialized?