New Spindle

Since my spinning wheel tends to spin lighter weight yarns (Ashfords are like that), I've been looking for another way to spin a soft, lofty, near worsted weight single. Found the perfect method with a spindle I used in a class last month. It was a bottom whorl Turkish spindle that also had a hook on top so a half hitch wasn't required. So began my search to find a similar one to purchase. I scoured all the spindle websites and received recommendations for spindle carvers but none of them were like the one from class. Now, maybe they would have been much better, but I was set on finding one that I knew would work and didn't want to deal with choosing from the wide variety of woods and weights and such.

Finally, I remembered seeing a little sticker on the underside of the whorl which said it was Russian/American. Maybe that could mean Peace Fleece. Sure enough, they carried the spindle. The only difference was the lack of a hook but I thought I might be able to live with that.

So, after receiving it and giving the half hitch method half a chance, I decided I'd still much rather have a hook for it. Went over to the hardware store to try to find one a proper size, but theirs were much larger than those on my other spindles (which is maybe why spindle carvers make their own) and I was afraid they'd split the wood. Finally found a tiny screw eye that I thought might fit but I needed to open up the eye first to form the hook. A little work with a pliers and carefully inserting it in the top of the shaft and voila! It even seems to be centered so as not to throw off the balance of the spindle.

Yeah! a new spindle!