Just a little bear

Just made this little guy for a girl I work with. She is here from Germany on a work exchange program through college. We plan to have a little "going home" lunch for her and will present her with this bear. I still have to make the little copper tag I want to hang from his collar that will say "BRUNO", which is the name of the company we work for. I will miss my new friend when she leaves, but hope she will continue to stay in touch, and will remember us when she hugs her new little bear.

Had to try this...

I read in the Ashford Spinners Group on Ravelry that someone tried to make their Ashford traditional into a spindle spinning wheel by just jamming a dowel into the orifice and spinning away. Well, that sounded easy, and I was up for a challenge. I found a paintbrush handle that just fit and gave it a go. Lo and behold, it worked! But I found my spindle spinning techniques leave a lot to be desired. It does work really well for winding yarn onto bobbins for weaving, too. Ahh, the wonders of fiber......

Classes

There's still time to register for my classes at the art weekend in Manitowoc the end of July. Be sure to check them out. http://inspiremyliferetreat.blogspot.com/p/workshops_17.html

On the Bobbin

Well, I did some spinning for a change. I spun up that basket of alpaca that I painted with Easter egg dye on Sarah, my Ashford Traddy. It was a really nice spin-very soft. Now I just need to decide how to ply it.

I also broke out the home-made Navajo style spindle I made several years back. My first attempt at spinning was with a drop spindle. I just couldn't get the hang of it. I read a book about Navajo spindles, and it gave directions for making one. I didn't have any skills at using a saw to cut the whorl so I improvised with a metal spool that holds wire that I dug out of the garbage at work. I also used a shrink wrap plastic from work garbage to place the whorl on the dowel. Painting the whorl before putting it on the dowel would have been easier-but I wrapped the dowel in Saran wrap then spray painted the metal blue. I carved both ends of the dowel to a rounded point and sanded them smooth. It spins like a dream. I forgot how much I loved it.