Tempestuous Yarn

There is a quintessentially American treat that doesn't make it's way down here, most likely for the same reason McVitties have problems exporting Jaffa Cakes with any regularity.

From what I've heard, they're just too damn tasty to last long enough to make it out of the country.

The treat in question: Girl Scout cookies.

In New Zealand we have Girl Guide biscuits, but they aren't quite the same. While they're also incredibly tasty and can be used in a bunch of different recipes, they don't have quite the same range of flavours.

Thin Mints, you say? I gotta try me some of these!

So: I'm putting together a bunch of bribes to see if I can convince a certain someone to send me Girl Scout cookies.

Because bribery and corruption is how friendships work ^.-

The Certain Someone is also a knitter, so I figured handspun yarn would be a good place to start. The fibre used was a lovely bag of pre-dyed merino sliver acquired at the Milton Wool Mill's factory shop.

The colours didn't show up very well there >.< It's a foresty green and golden yellow with a touch of white.

Here is is mid-spin:

The full bobbin against an imperial-style ruler for an idea of the thickness of the single:

All plied and setting the twist! (Please ignore the hoops)

Finished and ready to be used as bribe material!

Time to move on to the next part of the bribery materials. If Girl Scout bikkies are anywhere near as good as they've been made out to be, it's gonna take more than this to get me some!

~Topaz

You Spin Me Right Round

Every year in the month of December, the local Wood Turning Guild takes over the Community Gallery with a massive Expo and Sale on behalf of it's members.

I absolutely love going there to see all the wonderful things, smell the woods they used and very occasionally, if I'm feeling rich, pick up a pretty for myself.

Last year I went in with a mission: Upgrade from a Spud Stick to an actual, honest-to-goodness spindle.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pretty piece of wood!

I wasn't terribly hopeful to begin with, and my fears were confirmed after my initial browse. Lots of lovely bowls and candlesticks, the inevitable salad spoons, chopping boards and children's toys, but no spindles.

As a child I was painfully shy. I have attempted to grow out of it, but initiating social contact is still more than a little difficult for me. Screwing up my courage, taking my metaphorical balls in both hands so to speak, I approached the people chatting behind the register and asked if they might know someone who would possibly be interested in making a drop-spindle for me.

Blank looks.

Nobody knew what I was talking about.

However one old bloke was nice enough to give me a pen and a piece of paper. I drew a vague picture of what I wanted, affixed ma name and cellphone number and wandered off to work.

Two weeks later, on New Year's Eve, I got the best voicemail EVER!

A wonderful man had made me my spindle, and wanted to know if I could please come and collect it?

This is what the wonderful guy made. He has been turning wood since the 1940s, well longer than I have been alive and kicking, but had never made a spindle before! The Internet had not turned up any helpful references for him, so to the trusty local library he went for reference material to create this wonderful top-whorl drop spindle for me:



He made it from beautiful native Kauri wood and it smells AH-MAY-ZING! I can't wait to see how the colour changes when the wood absorbs lanolin from the wool fibers.

Happy crafting!

~Topaz

Told To Go Get Twisted

Yes, another knitter has been learning how to spin!

The lovely Vivian of the NEV Knitting Squad, a lady who is multi-talented when it comes to handcrafts (She even stocks a Craft Store on Baldiwn Street!) has been endeavouring to teach me how to take the various fibers I have somehow acquired over the last few months and transform them into a knittable state.

We have begun with the basics: Making singles on a drop spindle.

This is my very first drop spindle:


Yes, you are looking at a potato impaled upon a stick.

Yes, it is THAT easy to make a drop spindle!

THIS is my Very First Ever yarn.


I span it at Vivian's house under her watchful eye, and she plied it on her spinning wheel and showed me how to set the twist before turning me loose to get the basic hand motions so ingrained that I don't have to think about it any more.

She sat me at her (Yarn-less) spinning wheel while we were waiting for my first efforts to dry with the deceptively simple order to "Keep it going in the same direction" for a few minutes while she went to boil the jug.

I'll tell you this now: It's blasted difficult!

My record was about 15 seconds before I lost the knack and it started reversing itself. I think I'll stick with my nice, safe spud-stick for a while. At least it's easy to fix if I accidentally break it!

~Topaz