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Spindle spun yarn shown with Peter Filmer custom made ebony spindle. Yarn is Bendigo Rustic purchased from Canberra Feltmakers exhibition. Fibre on spindle is camel from Nundle Woolen mills
Plain Red Cedar whorl, Maple shaft.
1.2 oz
Fiber: 50/50 merino/silk hand-dyed from TheFiberDenn.etsy.com
Spindle is a deciduous tree native to the UK and across Europe. It is a popular ornamental plant in gardens and parks due to its bright pink or purple fruits and attractive autumn colouring, in addition to its resistance to frost and wind. It has been introduced to North America where it has become an invasive species in some areas Mature trees grow to 9m and can live for more than 100 years. The bark and twigs are deep green, becoming darker with age, and have light brown, corky markings. Twigs are thin and straight. The leaves are shiny and slightly waxy, and have tiny sharp teeth along the edges. They turn a rich orange-red before falling in autumn. Spindle is hermaphrodite, meaning each flower contains both male and female reproductive parts. Flowers have four petals and grow in clusters, in May and June, and are pollinated by insects. After pollination flowers develop into bright pink fruits with bright orange seeds, which resemble popcorn. It is native to much of Europe and can be found most commonly on the edges of forests and in hedges, scrub and hedgerows. It thrives best in chalky soils and is less common in Scotland. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars of a number of moths, including the magpie, spindle ermine, scorched carpet and a variety of micro moths, as well as the holly blue butterfly. The leave also attract aphids and therefore their predators, including hoverflies, ladybirds and lacewings, as well as the house sparrow and other species of bird. The flowers are a rich source of nectar and pollen for insects, particularly the St Mark’s fly. Its botanical name, Euonymus is from the Greek, ‘eu’, meaning ‘good’ and ‘onama’, meaning ‘name’. This is said to have meant ‘lucky’. However, in some areas, it was also thought that if the spindle flowered early, an outbreak of the plague was likely. Spindle timber is creamy white, hard and dense. In the past it was used to make ‘spindles’ for spinning and holding wool (hence its name), as well as skewers, toothpicks, pegs and knitting needles. The fruits were baked and powdered, and used to treat head lice, or mange in cattle. Both the leaves and fruit are toxic to humans - the berries have a laxative effect. Today spindle timber is used to make high-quality charcoal, for artists. Cultivated forms of the tree are also grown in gardens for autumn colour. Toxicity: All parts may cause severe discomfort if ingested.
T helped me put some of these together. Some are a little trickier to use; some are made to give away if I teach people to spin.
This is my first ever Bosworth Spindle and I am completely amazed, thrilled that I have such a beautiful piece of are work and I feel privilaged and honored to one this and hoipefuly other Bosworth Spindles.
5/1/08
The spindle is purpleheart wood.
Hand-carded Samoyed fiber from “Meijo,” spun on a Viking Santa purpleheart top whorl spindle. Very soft, like angora!
42.0 yards (38.4 m) DK weight skein
Moonwood Farm's Crystal Method made of Alpaca/Milk/Angelina fibers wrapping first above two arms then below one and repeating around.
Mary and the dogs pose with the new spindles. Kia is happy to pose for the camera; Electra wonders what she's done to deserve this.
Learn to spin :)
2.5 oz. of hand-dyed merino roving
with a bottom whorl drop spindle!!
Available in my fiber shop, see profile for info!
the replacement left and right spindle adapters next to the original and mangled Brunton spindle adapter. Note how shaved down the "bump" already is after round two of fighting with lower shock mount clearance issues.
I thought these trees were so strange--tall spindly things with hardly any leaves, and so much taller than everything around them.
Nice turn out for the wool spindling class at Live Oak Branch Library. Everyone had fun and learned a new craft!
Photo courtesy of Donna B.
Bottom Whorl Drop Spindle in red and black.
Features kanji symbols for:
Wool
Sheep
Yarn
Spin / Make Yarn
around the outside of whorl
Worl is 3" in diameter. Shaft is 10.5" long and 3/16" in diameter.
So the story is that some people wanted to do some public art in Victoria that had to do with First Nations people before the Caucasian invasion... and they wanted a cultural symbol, and drop-spindles were a big part of the culture around these parts. So seven cedar drop-spindle sculptures were created, but then it was realized that the cedar could get vandalized too easily, so they cast them in bronze. On the right is the drop-spindle sculpture outside the Royal BC Museum in downtown Victoria.
On the left: a buncha crazy spinners, who are pretty much all of European origins, as far as I could tell. Also: tourists with big cameras taking photos of spinners spinning around the spindle. Awesome!