My sister-in-law went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (the biggest handspinners’ festival in the country) a few weeks ago, and I asked her to get me a Golding ring spindle if she could find one. And she did! It arrived today. It’s the “Tsunami” model, 2″ around, and weighs just .6 ounces. It’s gorgeous. It’s carved in cherry and walnut, and set into a thin brass ring that rim-weights it. These are truly the Rolls-Royce of spinning tools. I test-spun it with a lock of raw wool today and it effortlessly spins the thinnest imaginable yarns. Not too heavy and spins forever. I highly recommend them.
I have now dyed the blue-green organza and the teal lining for the blue/green tutus. I’ve also received my cuts of silk for the fuschia, purple, and orange outfits, although I’m disappointed in the orange: it looks kind of sickly. I may swap it out for a brighter orange, if I can find one. Tonight I have to spend an hour on the trainer (I was supposed to ride two and a half hours today, but I only got 1.5 hours in before work, and it’s raining now), but after that I plan to put together the blue-green and the pink tutus. Saturday I have to do a five-hour ride (and plan to climb up some seriously challenging hills) and after that I’ll be spending the day with Mike, but I’m hoping to get some work done on Sunday.
And then, of course, I have the entire next two weeks to work on tutus, so I think I’ll be OK. Fortunately I’ve sewn a lot of this kind of stuff before so it goes relatively quickly””as quickly as one can expect a bridal-complexity outfit to go, anyway.
Wow, am I looking forward to the ride.
