CLOSE UP OF MY OWN SPINDLE

I was grateful to receive 2 mini cd's from a collage friend, I made this wonderful ugly hand spindle. The only pretty part of it is the rainbow light that emenates from the cd Oh, AND the SILK Of course!
I can do some production style spinning on in if I use easy to spin fiber ! I have very carefully sanded the shaft to silky smoothness. I then rounded the end of the shaft,i n case it hits the floorm so it will continue to spin. I also have an screw eye at the top which i have opened to a crook. This is black silk from a Silk Mawata, or single cocoon opened up into a hankie which I pull into a thin roving and spin to a lace weight.

I SPUN A WRIST DISTAFF!

I made the wrist distaff from about 20 + single ply of hand spun lace weight wool.The fleece was dyed in kool aid and food coloring and randomly spun up.I decorated the tassel with beads to keep the wrist distaff hanging down straight.Don't make it too heavy, because the roving will add weight.
First, wrap roving around your tassel then slip on the bracelet. Thread your roving through the bracelet and up and over your hand and then start spinning!
There may be other ways but this is what I do.I also made the cd hand spindle too, and this one spins forever!

MIDST OF GLORY ART YARN JOURNEY

1. First, the clean wool ( merino?) on upper left corner is dyed, then carded together by hand . I use a hand spindle to spin the fibers, then roll it into a ball to ply ( upper right)


2.Here you can see the single ply ball on a bed of the original wool.

3. NOW to add the component ply, in this case, varigated crochet thread ( cotton)

4. These are plyed together on my trusty yet slow ashford traditional wheel.

5. The Plied yarn is then placed on a knitty knoddy i created where it is gently
tied off to not tangle.


6. It is then rinsed, washed , dye fastness is checked, .

and it is yet rinsed again.

7. It is then weighted to set the twist of the yarn firmly.

Damp yarn, already a bit fluffed...

Completed ART YARN, Compare this to the single ply to see how plumped up it is!

"MIDST OF GLORY" ART YARN labeled & SOLD.

MY NEW WEBSITE!

Dear ones, please visit my new website and click on ART gallery and you will see my newest fiber work( extensive pics) at " FIBERS OF GRACE!" I do have a short page on it in the website itself with my new price list but am thinking of revamping it to make it easier.
Please leave a comment in my guest book and be inspired!

SILK SPUN & PLIED WITH WOOL

You can see the finished silk plied with Dorset wool on the right. I nestled in the cocoon on the finished wool. I need to spin up more, not sure what this will become, and have to dye it too. I like the texture of the completed yarn! On the left is the raw dorset and wool. This is the first yarn i have created in 13 years, How do you like it?

HAND SPINNING SILK FIBER

I thought you might like to see some close ups of spinning silk by hand! I can't believe I can spin anything this thin! I never believed when others said that Hand Spindles are like potato chips, you can't just have one! I have now made 4, and given away 2 of those. Will post pics of them soon! This one you see was purchased on Ebay.

I AM SPINNING SILK!

Dear ones, I have now moved from just painting on silk to creating the actual silk thread! Here you can see the cocoon way on the right, on the left top is an opened cocoon called a Mawata of Bombyx Silk. You can see how i have drafted out the roving on the bottom left proceeding to the lovely hand spindle. The silk on the straw is thread i have already spun up! I won't be weaving silk scarves but I am enjoying this a lot, it helps to manage pain to concentrate.