I’ve been wanting to try out a spindolyn since I first saw them. It’s a very interesting little tool but not something that I would use regularly because of my preferred spinning style. It is however wonderful to spin up neppy wools and when you want a ridiculous amount of loft in your yarn!
You know you into yarn when you have headcanons about what spindles characters would particularly like, what they prefer to do with the yarn, what type of wheel spinner they are, and who has 17 projects going on at once (Anakin) vs who’s gonna focus almost entirely on one project as they go through thought spindle spinning a fine yarn, plying and washing enough of it for a blanket, immediately sticking it on the loom, and weaving a particularly intricate pattern (Obi-Wan) vs who’s the ‘I add the knots of silk and locks so that I can live in the moment and let chunks come out when they need to’ (as if I even have to say it, it’s Qui-Gon)-
ANYWAYS. I actually love yarn and think that yarn craft should be more in fics but that’s sorta like how lots of chefs and bakers make a lot of foodie fics like it’s nice but. Everyone eats. Not enough people care about Scottish spindles. Obi-Wan has 7 Scottish spindles and like 8 Turkish ones so he can make a blanket’s worth of yarn in a single go without having to unwind them and ply right away. Qui-Gon likes supported spindles and a traditional wheel. Anakin designs and makes his own electric spinners, electric yarn counters, and electric cone winders. And then he knits Padme shawls. Qui-Gon crochets blankets and keeps leaving them in the creche or outside random apartments in the temple. Obi-Wan weaves. Anakin spent 5 hours learning how to dye fiber in Padme’s favorite colours, made an electric wool carder to make batts of them, spent a solid 15 hours spinning enough for a massive shawl in lace weight yarn for his wife, knit her one, and then went back to his ADHD project hopping.
wanted to practice adding a lot of details to outfits which is why he has the swirls and fish scale type pattern. though they would look neat and I was right
Unearthed my mini spindle recently and am using it to spin that hampshire that got kind of disintegrated when I washed it for several days. I dyed this stuff on accident, I didn't realized it was the damaged batch. So I dont want to include it in my bunch of hampshire yarns, since it's a lot weaker. Should still be usable though, so I'll spin it anyway.
The spindle isn't terrible, but it's not very balanced and could be a lot lighter. Honestly I want to make another drop spindle. It's been calling me.
This is something I did look into a few years ago without any luck, but does anyone know of anywhere I could buy a Navajo floor spindle from a Native seller? I can find any amount of them for sale from various general spinning/weaving/etc. suppliers, but I am reluctant to buy a tool relating to an indigenous crafting tradition from Some Company (or even Some Etsy Shop run by a non-Native) that does not remotely benefit the (very marginalised) community that the tool originates from.
I am a hobbyist spinner who does not make any money from spinning, and would not try to exoticise the fact that I was doing a Navajo style of spinning or position myself as an expert in it. I am interested by using a large spindle supported on the floor to spin largely because it looks more ergonomic and I am interested in learning styles of spinning that are new to me.
Also though, if anyone is aware of if the general consensus among Navajo craftspeople is that they would rather that non-Natives do not try to learn this kind of spinning, and can point me in the way of any information along those lines, that would be appreciated, because I do not want try to take ownership of things that are not mine to take.
I am also unclear about whether "Navajo spindle" is a term that is being used by non-Native spinners as an umbrella to group together various traditions of spinning? I am (passingly) familiar with the spinning and weaving traditions in the Navajo community, but there is something on The Woolery's website called a Blackfoot Spindle, which, has the following in its product description:
These Blackfoot Spindles were produced in coordination with Marilyn Wright (featured in Summer 2013 Spin Off magazine). They are handmade with a notch cut into the shaft that helps facilitate this almost lost spinning technique. Includes illustrated instruction pamphlet.
This technique of spinning was almost lost. At the turn of the last century the tribal elders of the Blackfoot Confederacy declared that all spindles should be burned and that there would be no more spinning.
A very relaxed way to spin on a unique spindle.
Order this Navajo style spindle for sale today.
Like... I am not saying that all members of the Blackfeet Nation would be like "Well, tribal elders said a century ago that there was to be no more spinning, so I'm glad that tradition is (almost?) gone, actually" or that they wouldn't want it to be revived (or that there aren't efforts within that community to revive it that I am not aware of), but it feels to me like it does not fall to non-Native spinners to revive or ~save~ this style of spinning the way that this ad copy seems to be suggesting and that it's kind of a patronizing thing to imply.
Also, given that many spinners refer to chain-plying as "Navajo-plying" when Navajo spinners say that it is not something that originates in their spinning tradition, this leads me to believe that the term "Navajo spindle" may be used in a way by non-Natives that is flattening out and equating diverse spinning cultures originating in the Americas.
Anyway, the last time I was exploring this I kind of lost steam and decided to make a one-off donatation to Adopt a Native Elder to send a yarn bundle to a traditional Navajo weaver instead, so that I was actively supporting a non-hypothetical Navajo craftsperson in making a living from their crafts instead of just indulging in navel gazing about whether making my own spindle was a more respectful way to engage in their crafting traditions than buying a "Navajo" spindle from Some Company would be, which may well be what I land on doing again, but if there is a Native spinner out there who sells spindles I would love to support their business.
Thinking about Scarecrow, gleeful and excited because he finally caught the bats and he's so, so close to finally finding out! Just what The Batman(tm)'s Greatest Fear is. Like after so long. Finally. He'll have the thing that makes Batman tick. The Fear behind the man. The thing so terrible it even strikes to the heart of Vengeance, The Night itself. And he pumps Batman full of fear toxin.
And it's.
And it's like.
Th
The fucking... a regular ass dentist or something.
The Henry Green Hatchet statue! I already had the Evie one so they are together finally 🥺 (Notice how tall he is 👀)
Also I have no idea how she managed to get it (and the magazine) because I really checked and it just did not exist. So I headcannon that it went something like this:
My new spindle from BullSheepFibry on Etsy arrived & I am in love! 😍
This is a highly versatile spindle; you can switch the weight balls around so weighs between 24 to 61 grams, it can be either rim or centre weighted, it can be a top whorl drop or a bottom whorl drop/semi supported. Most importantly, it has perfect spin and goes forever!
Stay tuned for what I pull out of my fibre stash to test out on this baby.
Resisting the urge to carve myself a distaff from one of the evergreen boughs ive dragged home and learn medieval in-hand distaff spinning. Do i need to do any of this ? No. Am i happy with supported spinning ? Yes ! Am i probably gonna do it anyway ? ... also yes