Rain and drop spindles
Jun. 10th, 2006 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoIt rained all last night, from before midnight until well after dawn this morning. Total accumulation was over 1.75 inches, which is the largest rainfall in a single 24 hour period here in more than two years. Maybe the drought is finally broken up. I actually wore a rain poncho while doing chores this morning.
Monthly handspinning guild meeting today, enjoyed it even though we were doing nothing special other than sitting with our spinning wheels and chatting. My proposed study group for the Certificate of Excellence (COE) program of the HGA looks like it's going to take off. I was holding out for at least four participants, and it looks like we have six. There is a syllabus for study, and if you actually go for the certification it's quite a demanding program requiring skeins of various sorts, samples, and written projects. In essence, a master's program in handspinning, complete with thesis. A committee of master spinners must examine and approve your work before you receive certification. Very much like the guild system of old, and probably more than I want to tackle since I'm neither a teacher nor a judge. But it still looks like a worthwhile challenge and a good learning experience, so here we go.
*shudder* Drop spindles. Required. I hate 'em. I started right out on a spinning wheel almost 20 years ago now, and I never really learned to produce a decent yarn with the traditional drop spindle. However, maybe this will get me going. In preparation for that, I bought two of them today, both different from my single bottom whorl that is the only one I ever owned. One is a Kundert, 1.2 ounces, capable of use either as top or bottom whorl. The other is a Turkish spindle with curved crossbars of cocobolo wood and a maple shaft, very elegant and hefty. I haven't weighed it yet.
Monthly handspinning guild meeting today, enjoyed it even though we were doing nothing special other than sitting with our spinning wheels and chatting. My proposed study group for the Certificate of Excellence (COE) program of the HGA looks like it's going to take off. I was holding out for at least four participants, and it looks like we have six. There is a syllabus for study, and if you actually go for the certification it's quite a demanding program requiring skeins of various sorts, samples, and written projects. In essence, a master's program in handspinning, complete with thesis. A committee of master spinners must examine and approve your work before you receive certification. Very much like the guild system of old, and probably more than I want to tackle since I'm neither a teacher nor a judge. But it still looks like a worthwhile challenge and a good learning experience, so here we go.
*shudder* Drop spindles. Required. I hate 'em. I started right out on a spinning wheel almost 20 years ago now, and I never really learned to produce a decent yarn with the traditional drop spindle. However, maybe this will get me going. In preparation for that, I bought two of them today, both different from my single bottom whorl that is the only one I ever owned. One is a Kundert, 1.2 ounces, capable of use either as top or bottom whorl. The other is a Turkish spindle with curved crossbars of cocobolo wood and a maple shaft, very elegant and hefty. I haven't weighed it yet.
