Yarn Spinners

Hubby's been busy again. 
 
He's been making crochet hooks - both regular and Tunisian - for awhile now and was looking for another little something to add to his repertoire.
Top to bottom: curly maple, cardinalwood, oak.

These have been popular with my buddies and Thursday night cohorts. They like being able to pick their own woods and have something custom made, just for them.
Top to bottom: canarywood, curly maple, oak.

The spinners are made with all hardwoods, and surprisingly - at least to me, since I'm a dark wood fan - the light maple, oak and birch have been the most popular.

Top to bottom: cardinalwood, walnut, and walnut. Mine!

We had a little trouble with the lazy susan mechanism that makes these spin. Turns out, it matters where you buy them. The ones from the big box hardware stores are lousy; slow or no spin at all. But the ones from Rocklar and Woodcraft? Lightning fast! And everyone needs a little lightning in their lives, right? 

Hubby's Hobby

When he's not remodeling the house or wrangling baby-grands, hubby does a bit of wood turning.

 

Most of his turning time has been taken up making crochet hooks for my buddies and the shop,

 

but every once in a while he'll disappear into the garage wood shop, 

 

reappearing a few hours later, covered in sawdust and smelling of varnish.

 

Early last week he received a block of buckeye burl in the mail.

 

I thought it would go into his stash woodpile, to be made into something eventually.

 
But look what was waiting for me when I got home last Sunday. 
 
Gorgeous!
 
I love that he was able to keep that rough section in the final piece. And the inlaid turquoise gets me every time.
 
And that he took the time to get photos for me as he worked? 
Major bonus points.  

A Bowl's Journey

Want to see what hubby does for fun? He takes things like this -  
an elder tree in Rachel and John's front yard that was dying and had to come down,
  
and through a process that involves sharp knives and large lathes,
  
hours of rough cutting and turning,

  

shaping, sanding and polishing,
 
achieves something that looks like this -
(click any image to enlarge. It's worth it.)

The man's a d*mn genius with wood.

He removed most of the bark from this piece of burl, 
 
carved out the interior so it would hold a bowl, 
 
ground up turquoise and added it to several inclusions and cracks, 
 

while leaving the natural red from the tree sap and highlighting the natural grain of the wood.

 

And then he goes and gives it all away. So now you know what Travis' mommy got for her birthday. Happy b-day, Breanne! 

Nostepinne

Isn't it pretty? A hand-crafted Phil Powell Cocobolo nostepinne. I bought this at my last guild meeting; Phil's sister is a fellow member and sometimes brings wooden goodies for us to drool over. I fell in love with this one, passing up tulipwood and yelllowheart nostes.

Nostepinnes are used to wind yarn, making tidy little center pull balls. And that's about all I know about them. So I Asked (much better than google) the innernets and found a great how-to video from Kristi at Fiber Fool, who - small world - lives near Rachel in Fort Collins and is on my daily read list.



How easy - and fun - is that!

Mother's Day

Look what Dick made me for Mother's Day. It's a hand-turned holder to display some of my antique crochet hooks. The center section is maple burl and he filled some of the wood's natural voids with turquoise. The top and pedestal are Madagascar ebony. The base is elephant ivory from the 1920's (pre-ban). He's been working on this for over a month. I knew he was turning something for me but I had no idea what the final product would be. My photos don't begin to do justice to this - it is stunningly gorgeous.I love it! Happy Mother's Day y'all!

Mystery Project

Dick is working on a present for me and won't tell me what it is. But he gives me little hints . . .

It started out looking like this - And now it looks like this - Dick turned and shaped the wood block into a bowl, then inlaid turquoise along the wood's natural inclusions. I think it's stunningly beautiful - and he isn't anywhere near done yet. Stay tuned for more hints!

I forgot to show you what Gary gave me for Valentine's Day. He made this in his floristry class, including tying the bow himself. Pretty nice, huh?

Wood You Still Love Me

Jarrah, bubinga, wenge, lacewood. They elicit the same response in Dick that merino, shetland, corriedale and cashmere do for me. Date day found us driving to San Diego (that's 150 miles. one way. 300 miles total. long trip.) to check out two new-to-us exotic hardwood stores. My spinning guru, Susie, told me about one that her husband loves; the second store Dick found in a woodworking magazine. No point in driving all that way just to see one store, right? That's the argument I'm using next time we go wool-stash shopping.

See the damp spots on the ground? Drool marks from when Dick got his first glimpse of this: This is the first of three warehouse-sized rooms full of exotic hardwood, perfect for woodturners. Huge pallets of ebony that they hadn't even had time to unpack. Most of the wood here is sold by the pound rather than the board-foot. That's a big deal to guys as wood crazy as hubby. Our haul? Tasmanian eucalyptus burl, Jarrah burl, and Tasmanian rose myrtle burl. All for $6 a pound.

Second stop was the shop recommended by Susie. It's in an art district in Solano Beach that we definitely want to revisit. Lunch at a nearby restaurant was incredible, and there are artists studios and antique stores galore. This place has a huge selection of hardwood - more board lumber than turning or carving pieces - but they also carry one of the largest collections of cabinet door hardware and drawer pulls that I've even seen. And imported furniture from Indonesia and Thailand; incredible, gorgeous, very expensive furniture.

Needless to say, we spent a lot of time here. I was good and didn't rush Dick through his selection process (remember that, dear, next time I go fiber shopping . . . . ). Truth be told, I love looking at exotic woods. Dick finally settled on purpleheart, yellowheart, ebony, quilted maple, bubinga, lacewood, paduak, zircote, satine bloodwood, and I don't remember what else.

Oh, and did I mention that most of this is destined to be made into custom crochet hooks, spinning wheel bobbins, and other toys for me and my buddies? Hooray!

AJ checking out the non-wool stash.