I’m working on making wooden crochet hooks and noticed that when two hooks face each other, it forms a heart.
These hooks are of the larger variety for super bulky or blanket yarn. Where I like to finish my spindles with a clear matt finish, so they have some grip, the crochet hooks get a clear gloss so they slide through loops better. The hooks in the picture are unfinished, and only partially through their sanding process. It was truly an unexpected heart.
Trying to spin while the kitten is awake is a dangerous undertaking. Trying to knit, crochet, sew, or do much of anything else with squirmy tempting yarn or thread is also prone to attract unwanted kitten curiosity. Luckily he does eventually sleep.
Yes, I’m posting a picture of my sleeping kitten. Yes, he is on his back in a cute pose. Yes, he is on a pile of fuzzy blankets. Yes, he is on the floor. What? Yes, the floor. He likes it there. The funny part is Missy the dog sleeps on a couch.
I’ve been working on a new drop spindle. I like my previous student spindles, but they are on the light side, just over an ounce. This light weight can be more challenging, so I wanted something a little heavier for upcoming spinning classes. I sourced some beautifully made wooden whorls from Pinehurst, TX, (yes, they are marketed at toy wheels, but they make lovely whorls) and some locally obtained dowels to make the shafts.
The whorls are lovely, but with the 12” shafts, the weight tipped over the two ounce mark, which is heavier than I wanted. To lighten the load, I drilled out material with my drill press and a 1/2” drill bit.
Then came the sanding and finishing. I sanded each piece down to 600 grit, wet the wood and let it dry, then sanded with 600 grit again. Both the whorl and shaft are finished with a clear matte coating to protect from stains. The most delicate part of the spindle is where the screw hook engages the wood, so I wrap the shaft with beeswax coated silk thread to strengthen.
These spindles can be used as a top whorl with hook, or flipped over and used as a bottom whorl drop spindle with the notch to keep a half-hitch in place. I’ve tested both ways and am pleasantly surprised how long these spin! The finished weight on all of them is around 2 ounces.
The “grow your own” mushroom experiment ground to a halt. The kit did produce a few mushrooms, but the container I had them in wasn’t big enough for the fruiting body to fully develop. I moved them to a larger plastic container, put water in the bottom to keep the humidity up, and the whole thing shriveled. Hm. There were a couple of fruiting starts, but they haven’t grown at all.
One of the things the seller said was that the fungus will stop producing mushrooms if it gets too dry in the original container. I opened up the container and added water. Two days later, more fruiting bodies sprouted. We’ll see if they develop into full mushrooms!
Critters and Craft 