Spindles!

I just ordered DD's Christmas presents from Stephenie Gaustad. Alden made a new batch of Balkan spindles. Here are Stephenie's notes that go with her photo above:

"The mesquite spindles are nearly purple/brown/black. The silky oak ones have little spindle shaped black polka dots. The apple one is very hard, dense and glossy with little figure, but a lot of substance. The honey locust ones look like yellow oak with lots of figure and definition. No rays. The Olive one is greenish yellow, not terribly hard, but has a nice hand.

They are, left to right:

chestnut (light weight)
olive (light weight)
apple (medium weight)
honey locust (medium weight) **sold**
mesquite (heavy weight) **sold**
birdseye (heavy weight)
mesquite (heavy weight)
silky oak (very light weight)
honey locust (medium weight)
white oak (medium-heavy weight)
honey locust (heavy weight)
walnut (medium-light)

My sense of these spindles without weighing them is that they all would perform nicely on silk. The silky oak would spin cotton and very fine silk."

There's a bit more data about Balkan spindles on Stephenie's website, and you can contact her for pricing and availability. Usual disclaimers, satisfied customer, shameless plug!

I am in the midst of some larger projects and will post when there is something worth photographing.