Our New Mantra...

Once upon a time, our family moto was "I am not a professional". We would tackle all sorts of projects knowing that we were not professionals and that there would be errors in our work. We did the best we could on those projects (and hired real professionals for some things!).

Now we have a new saying: "Anyone could just spend money." I'm not sure it's a good saying, but it encourages us to make do with what we have and to be creative with what we want.

It is construction season in our home. Contrary to our new saying, we have hired a contractor to come and remove all of the interior walls of the main level of our home and shift the location of the kitchen. It is dusty around here. Most of my fiber is packed away. But I *need* to play with fiber. So, when I tripped over an old wooden clothes-pin I tried using it as a 'not-quite-drop' spindle. And it worked. Slowly.

Then I came across the "Rakestraw spinner" at fibers.downinthecontry.com. It's an interesting twist (no pun intended!) on a drop spindle. And so I made one out of cardboard, a nickel, and my daughter's pencil topper! Believe it or not, the thing works! And it's a lot faster than the clothespin!

My other 'don't spend money' project is a spinning wheel. I got a small bike rim from our local bike shop--I highly recommend "Rotten Robbies" in Crawfordsville for biking needs. My husband got his bike there, and I got my spinning wheel rim from them. And when I explained what I was doing and why the guys didn't look at me as if I were crazy! This is the same frame that once had the wooden X, but I've stuck the bike wheel on it. Finding a good way to attach the footman and drive the wheel has me baffled. But I'm still working on it! If nothing else, this project is teaching me the value of a few hundred dollars when they are spent on good equipment! Hooray for all the spinning wheel engineers out there! I like my Louet!

And, lastly, this is a collage of bits and pieces of an almost finished object. As soon as I add a closure it will be my baby's "Quiet Book" full of little quiet things for her to play with. It's cute and I like it. I've sewn most of it by hand--mostly because that way I could work on it and be social. If I knew what I was getting into when I started this project, I probably would have run away! But it's done (or almost done!) and I am glad to see it's nice!