Tibor from MirkwoodArts, the spindle maker, has been quite busy, lately. He has been developing new spindles (the Ladies of the Fellowship – Elwing, Nimrodel, and also some of the “monsters”, like Shelob, the spider). There have been spin alongs to celebrate these new spindles, during which you could purchase them at a discount price.
The most recent new spindle is Smaug, the dragon. Tibor has created two versions: one “plain” one, and one with pyrography and gold. Those spindles look amazing, they have an intriguing shape, and the attached gold and pyrography really go along well with the story of Smaug, who, according to the story, has an “armour” of gold and jewellery because he has been laying on top of them for years.
You don’t need to have a MirkwoodArts spindle to participate in the SAL, but you do have to choose fiber that somehow reminds you of Smaug. I found the perfect batts in my stash: Kasbah from Nunoco. They are gradients from greenish yellow via orange to hot pink. Like fire!
The SAL started last Monday, and I’ve been spinning a lot already. I started with Boromir, and Frodo has already joined the spin because Boromir was putting on so much weight… After Frodo I will move on to Eowyn, and then to supported spindles from other makers. Supported spinning goes much faster (for me) that spinning on Turks, because I don’t spend that much time winding on.
I love seeing your progress on these! I find using supported spindles are so much faster and forget why I don’t spin with them more 🙂