Evicted!

At the last guild meeting we found ourselves evicted from our usual room due to the floor being waxed so we decamped outside to enjoy some rare sunshine. This proved to be an intriguing sight for users of the nearby park :-)

 As usual we were chatting, swapping fibres and drinking tea. I found myself fixing a spinning wheel which is fast becoming part of my job description. Amongst the fibres being spun was cat fur, Now I have a problem with spinning cat and dog fur, just don't like it!! more because of what it is than how it feels/spins up. However Wikkidknitter had a go and said it was fine so maybe I'm being unnecessarily squeamish?

We had a rummage through a couple of fleeces which we will hopefully wash  this weekend, one of them being this beautiful Shetland cross belonging to my mate, hard to resist pinching some of it for myself!

You may remember that I have been testing some prototype spindles for a local spindle maker. They tend to be a bit heavy for me, mostly 30gm plus but look amazing and spin for ever. I have one of the originals that I stripped down of all the metal extras ( and some of the wood) and I have used is at demos etc for the last few months, no matter what I do to it, its still spins like a dream so I have no hesitation in them being stocked in our shop.

I use one with the small holes in the whorl, this latest batch have been made without the metal collars (the bit I removed) and they have straight shafts for sliding your finished cop off.

Steve is also starting to make some spindle jewellery,  just to test the waters.

and a very interesting version on a tensioned lazy kate for spindles which I haven't tried yet.

If you want to know more about the Nottingham branch of the Weavers Spinners and Dyers you can read our newsletters on line here.