#craft tools

So, I have 13 pairs of hand-turned WA sandalwood lacemaking bobbins. Here's one with no thread on, next to a tape measure:

They're about 11.5 cm long (I didn't use the inch side of this tape measure because it's one of those Chinese produced ones with the different inch measurement, so do your own conversions if needed - a real Imperial inch is 254mm). They're 12mm in diameter at the top (the small flat end) and thinner where the thread goes, widening to about 15mm at the fattest point. Mr G, who made them, needed a picture of what I wanted them to be like, so I sent this:

I can't remember where I found this, but a little research suggests this is a typical form of lace-bobbins used in Switzerland, which makes sense why I would've chosen it as I spent a year in Switzerland as an exchange student and still speak Swiss-German so that's my connection/context for European objects/craft history.

This is what they all look like with thread on:

Here's some close ups:

According to Mr G, who made them (he's in his 70s and is a lifelong member of my hometown's Woodturners association), they're not hard to make, but "very fiddly" - another friend of mine who's a woodturner says pretty much they're about as easy to make as pen-barrels, but would indeed be "fiddly" and a bit bothersome to make compared to other woodturning projects, because of the small diameter and that the middle "post" is quite fine.

(the bit next to the orange pin-head is what I'm calling "the middle post").

About the wood:

And this is what my government says:

http://www.dbca.wa.gov.au/licences-and-permits/sandalwood-licences

So it's literally illegal to harvest, you need a licence and they're very tightly regulated. Unfortunately it wasn't always this way and many people used to get it, so if you're very very lucky and know a WA woodturner who's been doing it a long time, they might have some in the shed. I'm glad that they're managing the environment much better and don't support unethical/unsustainable harvesting of wood, even though I'm lucky & grateful to have access to *literally priceless* and possibly unique lace bobbins because of past practices.

Yes, they do smell slightly of sandalwood & it's very pleasant. They're also like *butter* in the hands, so I treasure them like the precious objects they are and will for the rest of my life. I hope to pass on the love of lacemaking and my precious bobbins and their story to someone I love when I'm no longer able to do it (may it be a long time in the future!).

My other bobbins are also "handmade" in that I made them out of pegs. Here's a pair:

This is what the pegs look like before you make them into bobbins:

You pull off the spring (any ideas for what to use them for? I have TOO MANY), and you can paint the ends so you can tell which ones are pairs (I used nail polish). You can use a little sandpaper or a nail file to smooth them out if needed. I think they're made from pine, and are not expensive, you can generally buy them in packs of multiple dozens for quite cheap. We call them "pegs" and use them to hang out our clothes to dry (outside) because WA (Western Australia, not Washington) has a very dry & warm climate. I've heard them called "clothespins" before but I know them as "pegs". They work well as bobbins:

I wind the thread around the notch that's next to this orange pin and do a lacemaker's hitch around the notch next to the white pin:

They hold the thread perfectly well and are easy to manipulate, but not as smooth and soft as my sandalwood ones, of course. I don't use spangles on my bobbins because I find they're heavy enough to keep tension with the tapered ends, and though the pegs are lighter, they keep tension well enough hanging off the side of my cushion.

My cushion is handmade too - but I'm out of allowed pictures on the post so let me know if anyone wants to hear about that!

I am pulling out my 2012-era youtuber to show yall what I keep in my knitting bag/pouch! I don't know if this is common, but I have this bad boy on me at all times, in purses, work bags, or backpacks--whereever I might have knitting, she comes too.

So, every once in a while, like many of us I'm sure, I get seized by an idea, and it will not let me go until I see it through. Today, that was a short series of jumps from problem to solution:

Bought a new tote bag I want to use often -> straps too short to put over my arm -> could make a new long shoulder strap out of fabric -> no matching fabric in mom's stash -> knitting and crochet are too stretchy to make good straps -> ...could I weave something?

So I started googling for stuff like "improvised loom" and discovered cardboard looms are totally a thing! But, I need something on which I can weave a single piece maybe 1.5 meters (~5 feet) long, and cardboard looms seem best set up for like, maybe 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) at most lest the loom bend and the warp threads be too loose and messy. But, in a scrap woodwork loom, there was a really funky heddle piece, and I saw it and said... wait, why couldn't I just have a piece that functions as both heddle and bobbin, to hold the extra length?

So I built myself a one-use cardboard loom. (Pictures taken before gluing, some adjustments were made in assembly like lining up the base pieces.)

Lots of slits in the base piece so I can adjust the warp threads if they're too close together initially or to move to one side or the other if the starting spot becomes unstable. The base will sit in a slot in my lap desk for stability. The bobbin piece will float in my lap or on the floor while I work a weft. It's almost more like a knotwork friendship bracelet setup than a traditional loom.

Will it be perfect? Heck no! But it will be recycling scraps of yarns I already have from old projects instead of throwing them out, and it will be handmade custom work as I learn an entirely new to me craft. Plus, the cardboard just has a little glue to hold the layers together, and can still be recycled if I don't want to hold onto it as proof I Learned A Thing.

It's not even the first time I've made a normally fancy craft tool out of cardboard. Well, last time it also involved a chopstick and a screw hook for picture wire, because I wanted to try spinning some roving I'd acquired too much of for thrummed mittens. And honestly? It might not have much weight, but a chopstick and round of cardboard made a drop spindle that worked just fine to spin up like 200 grams of wool roving. The more it spun, the more weight it had all on its own. I still have that spindle, though roving is pretty expensive to get my hands on these days and I don't have any intention of keeping up the spinning habit.

This is a hand-crafted Silver Birch Shillelagh, which I am currently selling.

The length of wood used was ritually harvested from an old Silver Birch tree, which are lovely and folklorically signifcant trees, known for their associations with Purity, Hope, and Renewal. The knob of the stave—which was a natural formed root bulb—was de-barked and polished, while the rest of the piece was carefully treated and varnished so as to protect the glossy paper-bark of the specimen. The sorcerous wood varnish I used is one I developed myself using a variety of potent arboreal resins, such as Dragon's Blood, Storax, and Black Frankincense—both accentuated the warm color of the polished wood, while preserving the shine of the bark.

This Shillelagh is lightweight but sturdy, measures approximately 40 inches/101.5 centimeters in length, and I am willing to be reasonably flexible with pricing—so reach out if you think you would be interested in purchasing it! As always, I'm glad to work out payment plans when necessary.