Spindle Spinning is the Life of the Party – The Cuttle Corner #23
Welcome to the twenty-third edition of The Cuttle Corner! This week, I found the perfect party conversation starter – spindle spinning!
If you missed last week’s post, you can take a look here.
Now, let’s get cozy!
What’s going on
One of my favorite annual events is my brother-in-law’s birthday. There is always a big party with great food and lots of different board games that everyone plays. It’s a fun tradition that I look forward to every year.
We celebrated his birthday this week, and it was a great night out! There were so many different games to play! I didn’t even make it through one round of Bang, but I won when we played Ticket to Ride.
I brought my spindles to keep my hands busy between turns. Pulling out some spinning during a party turned out to be a great icebreaker! Everyone was so fascinated by the spinning, and I even got to hear about other spinners that people knew. I even convinced someone they should come to the next Crafternoon!
Never be afraid to work on your crafts, no matter where you are! On the bus, at a restaurant, waiting in line somewhere, are all great times to be crafting. You never know who might be interested!
What I’m working on
This was one of those weeks when I felt like I didn’t get much crafting done. This is, of course, not true. I spent a lot of time crafting, just not as much time has gone to the projects I like to showcase here. Most of my crafting time went to working on the final version of the corset I’ve been working on for months.
Even though most of this week has been spent sewing, I still found time here and there for my wooly projects.
Knitting
I haven’t lost momentum on the Kildalton cardigan I’ve been knitting, even though the progress I’ve made may not look like much.
I’ve picked up stitches for the second sleeve and finished all the short rows that shape the shoulder. Now, I just need to keep knitting around and around until I finish the second sleeve.
Knitting a bit in the morning while I drink a cup of coffee has become a good time to get a few rows in. This week, that’s all the knitting I’ve been doing, but even a few rows a day adds up!
One of my favorite things about knitting is that you can immediately see the work you put into it. That stitch you just made wasn’t there 30 seconds ago, that row didn’t exist five minutes ago. If you knit while watching a movie, you could make a whole sock! It is tangible in a way that most forms of progress isn’t.
Spinning
While I haven’t touched my spinning wheels all week, I spent some time with my spindles.
I’ve been reaching for my Turkish spindle a lot lately. I love how it spins so smoothly for a long time. When I was spinning at the gaming party, this is the spindle I started with. Because I’ve been picking it up frequently, I’m starting to get a good amount of yarn built up.
The downfall of the Turkish spindle, especially mine, is space. The arms stick out more than other spindles, so you need more room around you when you spin. As more people showed up and space got tighter, it got harder to keep spinning without running into anything.
Fortuneatley, I also brought my Dealgan spindle, which is opposite to my Turkish spindle in many ways. It spins in short, fast bursts, and has a very narrow profile. I was able to spin with this under the table while playing games. I’m still getting a feel for this spindle, but I’m starting to get more consistent (and not drop it as much).
If you ever want to impress a group of people, just pull out your spinning! Everyone was curious (and impressed), by the witchcraft that is spindle spinning.
Until next time, keep cuttle-ing!
What are you working on? I’d love to hear about your projects in the comments below!