Prototype whirligig

On July 5, 2026 By CarynIn Craft

I have had an idea twirling around in my head for a while about having a drop spindle combined with a wind spinner for when I’m walking and spinning. The idea is that the walk and wind will give a little more power to the spindle spin. I needed a material that was easy to work and light, so chose finished leather and cut it with my laser cutter.

Photo description: two leather halves of a wind spinner sewn together at the end of the tabs with waxed cord, dilute calico cat in the background

Photo description: finished spinner on a different calico cat, dilute calico in the background

Photo description: leather wind spinner installed on a drop spindle and used to spin some Romney wool, outside on a windy day, coop in the background

The cool thing is that this spinner only spins one direction when wind is blown across it, so it is easy to tell which direction I have been spinning, and suspended on freshly spun yarn, the wind absolutely spins it. Until the power in the twist in the yarn is greater than the push of the wind, which doesn’t take much. Hm. I have some ideas on how to improve the design. I’m hoping to have something working by fall when I can go out walking again. It is too blasted hot right now.

Pumpkin vines

On July 4, 2026 By CarynIn Garden

Well, the pumpkin seeds I planted have taken over, and I like it.

Photo description: pumpkin vines on a slope

Photo description: same patch opposite angle

I have not seen any signs of set fruit, but it is hard to see much past those massive wonderful leaves.

I think this is a happy area for pumpkins.

A different kind of winder

On July 3, 2026 By CarynIn Craft

I saw a different kind of yarn winder scrolling the marketplace, and ordered one. I was intrigued because instead of using a tilted core that spins off-axis, it uses a stationary core and an arm that oscillates. Unfortunately it makes very messy yarn cakes. Functional, but messy.

Photo description: messy yarn cake on a horizontal style ball winder

I tried several different ways of winding: forward, backward, without tension, with tension in different directions, but all the cakes were messy. Even the picture on the box had a messy yarn cake, so I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve a beautiful wrap with this device. But it could serve another purpose. I took it apart to see how it worked.

Photo description: same yarn winder with the cover removed showing the gears and cogs that make it tick (literally)

When I had it apart I played a little with the arm length and spent quite a bit of time turning the handle to watch how the parts worked together. The seed of an idea is in the back of my head to make my own yarn winder that I can use with a treadle instead of a handle.

When working with small metal parts, a magnetic watch band can be a useful accessory, if you remember that it is magnetic and will pick up tiny parts. I spent five minutes looking for the small black clip on the floor before I looked at my watch.

Photo description: small black clip and a small screw magnetically attached to my watch band

Throwback Thursday: cat cabinet

On July 2, 2026 By CarynIn Craft

In January 2018 we were still working on setting up the new-to-us house and I needed a place to feed Izzy the cat. We had a space in the corner of the master bedroom and the previous owners left a large old wood workbench with drawers on the back porch. I used the drawers as the structure for a cabinet, and cut sections of the workbench top for the cabinet top, bottom, and door.

Photo description: cabinet made from old workbench drawers

Photo description: inside of the cabinet, showing the open back

The door had a crack, so I used an old leather belt as strapping to reinforce it. It worked, because the door is still strong after 8 years.

Photo description: closeup of the leather strap showing the carving details from when it was a belt

Chimes

On July 1, 2026June 29, 2026 By CarynIn Craft, music

I wanted a set of chimes for the front entry, so decided to make some.

Photo description: graduated chimes made from 1/4 inch aluminum rod hung with fishing line from a section of a cedar branch

I read that chimes are usually made with solid aluminum or brass tubes. Aluminum is easier to work with, so I purchased a set of 10 quarter inch rods that were each 16 inches in length for about $14. My first step was to make a small groove in some scrap wood to hold the rods while I drilled a hole in each end.

Photo description: scrap wood jig holding a aluminum rod and a hole drilled in the end with a drill press

Once each rod had a hole in each end, I used a band saw to cut the rods into different lengths, with about a 1/2 inch difference. I then sanded them to remove the burrs and sharp edges.

Photo description: 19 graduated aluminum rods with one extra originally intended to play the chimes, but was unnecessary

I found a scrap of cedar branch from a failed walking stick project and cut it to about 12 inches. I sanded it and finished it with Howards Feed-n-Wax.

Photo description: cedar branch being prepped for holes drilled 1/2 inch apart

I used steel stranded cable to hang the wood, and monofilament fishing line to string the chimes. The knots for the fishing line are all on the back of the branch. The chimes are strung with line that comes out the back and back in the front to increase ring time, and I found have a long line for stringing and a shorter secondary line for tying knots worked fairly well.

Here is a video of the chimes in action. If I get ambitious, I will tune them .