Tahkli Spindle

Helloooo, I hope all is well.

I bought myself a tahkli spindle to have a go at spinning some different fibres. The tahkli spindle was said to have been invented by Ghandi; so people could spin cotton as a way to provide for themselves. It is small and transportable and great fun.

I have also bought some silk, in my favourite colour purple. It is soooo lovely to spin. The only thing I could think to use as a mini-niddy noddy was a loo roll! Is there anything a but more presentable I could use?

The cotton has also turned out really good.

Just need to think of a project or three to use them now!

Gratitude Sunday

Today I am incredibly grateful for the lovely weather we are having today. This means I have done loads of gardening and managed to get lots of outdoor things sorted.

I am also grateful for trying new things, I bought myself a tahkli spindle and have had a go at spinning cotton and silk.

Also, I found the first ripe blackberry of the year.

Spinning/dyeing update.

I spun this wool a while ago, but only have just gotten round to dyeing it. I have changed my method from using the microwave to using the oven, it seems to make less smell which my boyfriend was very pleased about.The kicthen tends to smell like what I decribe as pickled sheep.

I love love love the colour. It reminds me of the sweets called fruit salads.

A story of a stool

When I visited France in April, when my blog went on hiatus. One of the many things we did was look in the antique shops. We found many beautiful items; but I was after one thing in particular. A stool for my spinning wheel. All the shops we looked in had nothing suitable.

It just so happened we were on our way back to the uk, we passed a tiny antique shop in a small village. I can't remember the name of it. We wasn't sure that it was open. So we stopped and poked our head round the door and the shop owner said he would open especially for us. 

His store was really something. It was dark and dingy and mostly filled with rusted farm equipment. But tucked away in a corner I spotted a small stool, we pulled it out and found a beautifully turned spinning wheel stool! The guy had forgotten he even had it and so I offered €10 for it and he accepted.

This is the stool before I had done any work on it. It was covered in a horrible varnish and I spent ages sanding it all off my hand. I then used some home made beeswax polish on it and gave it a good buff and it turned out lovely. I am still unsure what wood it is made from but it does look like oak.

The stool now sits pride of place behind my spinning wheel. I am so pleased with it.

Also, a bonus picture taken on the way home yesterday