I have been doing a lot of spindle drawings lately because I am going to have an opportunity to sell them and the headbands with the yarn at a craft show in November. So back in August I did a bit of thinking and realized there had to be an easier way to draw with a spindle besides taping a pencil to the bottom. And thus this was born!
Like most homemade spindles, I used wooden wheels from Hobby Lobby. Unlike most homemade spindles, the dowel rod is replaced with a charcoal pencil. Overall, it does the job just like a normal spindle. However there are a few flaws in this device:
- It actually makes a different type of mark than the ones produced by taping a pencil to the bottom of a normal spindle
- The hole in the wheel was too small for my pencil, so I had to do a bit of carving and hacking at it. If I wanted to go 'pro' on these, I'd find a better thing to use there.
- Since the wheel is small, it doesn't hold much yarn.
- Obviously, the pencil needs sharpening sometimes, thus making it shorter.
- I couldn't quite get the hook to stay it, so it's taped on top.
This really does do the trick for making drawings, I am not going to lie. But I think that I actually prefer the marks made by taping a pencil to the bottom. So for now I am alternating between the two until I have time to think of a better solution.
Anyone ever make a homemade drop spindle? Any pointers??
~Lisa
Woah, that is an awesome idea! Sure there are a few drawbacks, but it has to be the first spindle ever created like that!
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