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Archive for October, 2008

Oct 12

6 Comments

Winding with Spider

I’m so thrilled with the response to naming looms and other fibre tools…even cars. We take ages to name children so why not looms. I particularly like names that capture those idiosyncrasies and unusual habits of our tools. I’ve started naming everything now.I’d like to name my new winder ‘speedy’ but perhaps this is too aspirational and could stress the little tool out. What about ‘spider’. That has a ring to it and a spider doesn’t seem to stress about its work – it just gets done.

The following photos are of my transition from my old homemade bobbin winder to a newer AVL one. I wanted a bit more versitility in what bobbins I could wind and the AVL winder is great.

winder

winder2
My old winder. This was made with a new sewing machine motor and a spindle made by a friend to accomodate the straws I use as bobbins in my boat shuttles. It has worked beautifully for years….and still works…but is nameless. My new AVL electric bobbin winder  - Spider- with a plastic bobbin on it for winding. A spring loaded adjustment device allows easy and quick access to the bobbin and great flexibility in the size and type of bobbin.

winder 3

winder4
Here is the AVL winder with one of my straws on it. It fits everything. Here is a secret one. It is a cone shaped piece of wood, made by a friend, which acts as a sleeve for a cardboard cone. Now I can wind cones easily although I have to be careful how I build up yarn on the cone. If I’m not the cone won’t unwind efficently and can become a problem.

Oct 7

11 Comments

Cosmos is Coming

MOL Cosmos shipThis ship is bringing my loom home.
It is the MOL Cosmos and I’m naming the loom “Cosmos”.

I had a discussion recently with Amanda about how many weavers name their looms. I’d never thought to do this and was drawn to the idea. I’d always expected that the loom would be female rather than male – I don’t know why. But the name Cosmos, although genderless, seems a male name like Cosmo, which I like.

According to my dictionary Cosmos means “..refer(ing) to the universe as the cosmos, especially when considering it as having an order and pattern.” What a perfect name. Does anyone else name their looms? And does naming make a difference?

Oct 3

7 Comments

Square Whorls – Is it Possible?

square whorl spindleCan it be possible that a square rather than round spindle will spin? Well yes, and spin for a longer time.

I just bought this spindle from UK Spindlemaker Michael Williams. I have been wanting to buy a special spindle for a long time…but not having access to trying any I have to depend on reviews from those I respect as spinners and women of the yarn. I had heard rave reviews about Mike’s spindles from spinners such as Liz, Helen and Jane (an author of Creative Spinning) at the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers, so I took a chance at buying a square whorl as he had one in waiting. It was serendipity, so I got it.

It spins like a dream and is really enjoyable to use. I got a 17g one so I can spin quite fine. There are many stories or myths about the ‘magical’ feeling of spinning fibre into yarn and it really must be on a finely crafted and engineered spindle. If I was a scientific person I would say that the health benefits of spinning must be extraordinary.


Michael says of his square whorls,

“The four corners have weight which is further from the axis and will produce a longer duration of spin. A square spindle with sides of a given dimension can spin up to 33% longer than a circular whorl of the same diameter and weight. (I used applied mathematics to calculate the improvement).”

 

 

 

 

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