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Lapsed anthropologist-turned-burlesque performer and post-modern punk housewife/homesteader living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with a hunky husband, gorgeous daughter, adorable corgi, fluffy rabbit, and three clucking fabulous chickens.

Monday, June 27, 2011

The MacGyver Spindle

I've been talking to Mr. Bear for a while now about how I want to make my own spindles. I have visions of creating beautiful resin things containing thousands of flower petals, or small stones, or seashells. The spindle I'm about to show you is not one of those spindles.

I explained to him how you can make a functional drop spindle with a pen and a cd, and it got me thinking about making functional spindles out of whatever was on hand.


Tonight, Mr. Bear spent the evening cleaning out his office, and he found a bag full of random objects he had been given by his Air Force recruiter. The usual mostly useless swag; lanyards, keychains, antenna balls, pencils, foam baseballs, plastic coins, etc. He asked if I wanted any of it, so I pawed through it to see if there was anything in there I could make a spindle out of. I ended up taking an unsharpened pencil and one of the hard foam antenna balls, and stole a paperclip from his desk.


The usual useless stuff recruiters throw at you.


round thing + long skinny thing = spindle

The antenna ball already had a hole half-way through it, and I shoved the pencil into it, pushing and twisting the ball until the pencil emerged out the other side. I bent the paper clip into a hook and twisted it around the end of the pencil. I had some bamboo fiber on hand to test it out with. It actually spun.


Action shot!




If you don't have a wii, any game controller can be used as a makeshift niddy-noddy. Or, you know, use your hand.

It's much to light to spin anything heavy on, but I managed to make a very small skein of 2-ply bamboo yarn on it. All in all, a successful experiment in turning disposable items into a functional tool. I've decided to turn it into an actual activity. I'm calling it Guerilla Spinning(some people use that term to describe any act of spinning in public, but I'm taking it up to 11). Keep some fiber in your purse or backpack or wallet, and when you're out and about, see if you can put together a functional spindle from items on hand. I'll keep you posted on what I manage to throw together. Happy spinning!

Tiny skein of bamboo yarn, courtesy of the USAF


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