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.

Plying bracelet

On March 28, 2026 By CarynIn Craft

When spinning with my literal stick and my newly purchased Romney wool, I wanted to know how it would look plied, because this is the lowest twist I’ve ever put in making a yarn. This was a good opportunity to experiment with plying bracelets. A plying bracelet is made by wrapping the yarn around your hand (or other object) in a certain pattern so that when it is slipped onto the wrist, it is easy to ply from both ends without tangles. It is pretty magical, really, and worth exploring. There are several different ways to wrap a plying bracelet, here is the one I used.

Photo description: two plied yarn wrapped around my hand to form a plying bracelet

Photo description: plying from both ends of a plying bracelet to make a two ply yarn

The photos are a little out of order, I forgot to take a picture of the plying bracelet to make the two ply yarn, but then took that yarn and made another plying bracelet to make a four-ply cabled yarn.

This is an interesting technique and a nice little rabbit hole to explore.

Dorie the sheep

On March 27, 2026March 24, 2026 By CarynIn Craft, Uncategorized

When I forgot to bring my spindle on my trip, I also left behind my fiber, which gave me an excuse to visit a local weaving shop and get more fiber. I was pleasantly surprised that the Woven Art Yarn Shop in East Lansing had some natural colored roving options, and picked a bag of Romney combed top from Dorie the sheep, who is apparently “an independent soul”, according to the label.

Photo description: Bag of Romney combed top fiber from Cross Wind Farms with a single spun on a stick with the bark still on and a cup hook screwed to the top

I love Romney wool, it spins up easily and is soft. Since I spun with a finger twirled stick, I made a thicker single because it needs less twist to hold together.

Critters and Craft

Tag: Romney

Prototype whirligig

Plying bracelet

Dorie the sheep