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Actually, I'm not too bad with a drop spindle. Not sure I'd go so far as to say I'm exactly good with one, but I'm certainly better than I used to be.
I picked up a Turkish whorl, and it works nicely, which means I'm in danger of wanting another one or two. I've some nice bottom whorls and top whorls.
I miss my mid-whorl, though. Or rather, I miss having a working mid-whorl. It had a pretty lizard on it and spun very nicely and held a fair bit.
Then, I took it to some event or other in the UK. The issue was a return trip, either in 2005 or a couple years later. The folks at the airport told me that when I got to the US part of things, the folks there might make me check my drop spindle. Or might not. Not that they were telling me what to do, but they wanted to advise me that they didn't know if there'd be a problem.
What I should have done, of course, was to thank them for the head up and keep the spindle with me. Odds were good no one would have had a problem with me and my mid-whorl. But I checked it, which meant that the tiny twist of wire, which was what I think the folks at the UK end thought the folks at the US end would worry about got messed up. Or more accurately, the connection between wire and wood got messed up, and a craftswoman who tried to fix it messed it up more -- she did give me fair warning that this might happen; I did this at my own risk.
Problem is I no longer remember where I got the mid-whorl from, whether it was Arisia or an SCA event, which one, which year, which merchant, or whether they're even still vending. I have a couple others from the same purchase, quite functional, just not mid-whorls. And sometimes, you just want a mid-whorl.
I'm not having a lot of luck finding something similar enough for my tastes online. I've paged through Etsy and what SCA and other merchants I can find. I've checked Arisia's vendor lists.
It's not a huge deal -- I have enough drop spindles to play with, and I'm not exactly a serious spinner. But if anyone does know of merchants who sell pretty mid-whorls, please let me know.
Addendum: Just want to say I love Medieval Spinning's explanation that "There are four things you need to start spinning: a stick, another stick, some fluff and a lumpy thing." (I hear it in my SCA brother Yaakov's voice, which is utterly unsurprising.) Heck, I even make do without one of the sticks, as I have yet to learn to use a distaff.
I picked up a Turkish whorl, and it works nicely, which means I'm in danger of wanting another one or two. I've some nice bottom whorls and top whorls.
I miss my mid-whorl, though. Or rather, I miss having a working mid-whorl. It had a pretty lizard on it and spun very nicely and held a fair bit.
Then, I took it to some event or other in the UK. The issue was a return trip, either in 2005 or a couple years later. The folks at the airport told me that when I got to the US part of things, the folks there might make me check my drop spindle. Or might not. Not that they were telling me what to do, but they wanted to advise me that they didn't know if there'd be a problem.
What I should have done, of course, was to thank them for the head up and keep the spindle with me. Odds were good no one would have had a problem with me and my mid-whorl. But I checked it, which meant that the tiny twist of wire, which was what I think the folks at the UK end thought the folks at the US end would worry about got messed up. Or more accurately, the connection between wire and wood got messed up, and a craftswoman who tried to fix it messed it up more -- she did give me fair warning that this might happen; I did this at my own risk.
Problem is I no longer remember where I got the mid-whorl from, whether it was Arisia or an SCA event, which one, which year, which merchant, or whether they're even still vending. I have a couple others from the same purchase, quite functional, just not mid-whorls. And sometimes, you just want a mid-whorl.
I'm not having a lot of luck finding something similar enough for my tastes online. I've paged through Etsy and what SCA and other merchants I can find. I've checked Arisia's vendor lists.
It's not a huge deal -- I have enough drop spindles to play with, and I'm not exactly a serious spinner. But if anyone does know of merchants who sell pretty mid-whorls, please let me know.
Addendum: Just want to say I love Medieval Spinning's explanation that "There are four things you need to start spinning: a stick, another stick, some fluff and a lumpy thing." (I hear it in my SCA brother Yaakov's voice, which is utterly unsurprising.) Heck, I even make do without one of the sticks, as I have yet to learn to use a distaff.