Threads thru Time

Updates on what is going on around here.

2012-01-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I went for my pre-op testing yesterday and so far so good, surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday. For those who don't know I have been diagnosed with endomertrial cancer.......hopefully stage one. The doctors won't really know until they get inside.......

The move with the house is still going on as planned, this will be my last weekend to help pack stuff up. We have to move out of the house so the floor jack people can fix the fallen slab of our house. The outside walls are fine it is the inside floor that has fallen. So we have spent 2 months slowly packing the house and its contents into a pod. Then they will spend 3 days to fix the floor and we will spend 3 months moving back in.......or longer since I won't be allowed to help. I have always been a better supervisor anyway. LOL!

That is why we are so slow to get things into the etsy shop right now, Dale is working on inkle looms at the moment. He has found he likes the Ambrosia maple and as long as we can get it we will use it for the inkle looms. He is also going to make a floor inkle out of the Ambrosia maple and Walnut. He will work on spindles when he gets caught up on Inkle looms and shuttles.

Joshua, is back in school (college), working part time and still making support spindles and other items for the shop. Speaking of support spindles he was recently asked to submit a spindle to be critiqued for a book a lady is writing on Supported Spindles......so he will be mentioned along with his spindle in the book......more on that later.

I hope you have all found us on the ThreadsthruTime Ravelry group if not go check us out. We are a very friendly if somewhat laid back group. You can watch the shop announcements for soon to be listings on spindles, fibers, inkle looms, and all of the other items we make. Hope to see you there.......

What a year it has been!?

2011-12-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

What a year it has been from record snow to record heat wave and then earthquakes all in one year. In Oklahoma we rarely get more then 15 inches of snow all winter long, we had that much in one day this last winter. Then we had record rains and then no rain when we really needed it. The temps in the summer can go up to 102 for a few days and then drop back down into the 90's. This summer we had temps for up to 115 degrees and stay in those 100 degree temps for weeks. We had very little rain and we saw drought conditions as bad or worse then in the dust bowl days of the 1930's. Then we had record setting earthquakes, now I have felt a jiggle or two in my time but not the shaking that this produced and the noise and it was only a 5.1 earthquake small by most standards.

Then to top it off I had to have a hernia removed in February and then while recovering, I dealt with my 80 year old mother who had to have thyroid surgery. To make matters worse they found a blockage in her carotid artery and we had to have extensive testing done for that. Mom lives 2 hours from us in a very small town. Her doctors are all in Tulsa, 12 miles from us, so she stayed with us for nearly 3 months while all the testing and finally the surgery was done.

Things began to smooth out and we began planning on doing some remodeling in and around the house. We got the roof done and we are waiting our turn after the earthquakes to get the floor jacked back up. It had actually been falling before the earthquake but I'm sure it didn't help it any. Then we got the rug pulled out from under our feet........I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. I am in stage one or so the doctors tell me, we won't really know until I have surgery the end of January. Seems like during the holidays the doctors like to take vacations and spend time with their families. On the flip side I just want the thing out of there and for this to all be over with.......

We will be closing the etsy shop for a week from December 22nd though to about the 27th to spend time with family. We will again close the shop the end of January when I have surgery for about 2 weeks while I recover from surgery.

We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, and Feliz Navidad.
Thank You for supporting us through this last year and we look forward to visiting with all of you this next year. We have opened a group in Ravelry called funny enough ThreadsthruTime, come join us for a chat and to see shop updates.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass;
its about learning to dance in the rain.

Something new for me...

2011-12-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have been learning a new trick, I always thought it was just plain weaving but apparently there is a little more to it. The ladies at Mirrax looms have been giving on line weave alongs and I have been participanting in them when I can. Want to see what I have been doing........

The top two are bracelets and the bottom one is going to be a sampler........I am learning quite a bit and having lots of fun doing it. It takes my mind off of other things going on around me....more on that later.

2011-11-19T07:35:00.000-08:00

Listed four new colors and one we haven't had in awhile.....all are in mediums. We now have a ThreadsthruTime group on Ravelry go check them out when you have time..........

The new colors from front to back are Field and Stream....left middle row is Sunny Skies and Dakota. In the back row from left to right is Earth and Sky and Agate.

horrible things happen!

2011-10-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Most of you know I have chickens, ducks and geese and they are part of my passion. When life throws me a curve ball I go outside find a spot in the shade and watch my critters. In a matter of moments I can feel the days frustrations fade away if only for a little while....
So imagine my horror, when early in the morning as first light was hitting the grass, I let my little dog Mollie go out for her morning romp and saw a dead goose and feathers all over the place. Then over by the rabbit barn I heard a strange dog bark........ohh!! my God!!! I got Mollie back in the house threw my clothes on as I ran screaming through the house for Dale and Josh to get up, we have strange dogs in the yard. We are not strangers to other animals in the yard but we do take extra precautions to maintain our fence line. Once outside we were accosted by barking and growling dogs in our own yard, and the fog was rolling in......
Oklahoma, is in a bad drought one like most of the younger then the 1930's crowd has only heard of, we haven;t had rain in a couple of months not a real rain. The night before we had a thunderstorm and I guess it spooked a lot of the animals. Our own cats ( we have 2) ran and hide under the beds, Mollie stood and barked at the sky light every time lighting flashed or thunder boomed. The angora goats hid in the barn as did Jax the herding dog.......so they were witness to nothing.
Probably, the two dogs that dug under the fence were just trying to escape the storms wrath. Once the storm was over and daylight found them in a strange yard with all kinds of feathered animals just waking to the daylight hours, they decided to give chase. They killed in all 2 full grown Chinese geese (Hank and Hun), I will tell you about Hank later. They killed 2 of my Old English Call Ducks, 2 are hurt, and the other 2 flew over the fence into the front yard. We think the two hurt ones will survive, the two in the front yard gave a loud call when they heard us and were shooed back into the back yard. My beautiful, Gold Laced Cochin Bantams are all dead. I have raised these chickens for 20 years so we go back several generations. They are my pride and joy, Joshua won many a ribbon with at Fairs and 4-H shows with them. I lost them all, 20 dead chickens and not a one was eaten. I found one still alive under a thorny old rose bush and 2 more are missing.
I had 9 young chicks in a separate pen, with a cover on the top, the dogs tried to dig under the pen to get to them but did not succeed. I have them at least to carry on the line, next year I will find some more to go with them. It doesn't bring back Hank and Hun, and it doesn't diminish the fact that I have lost so much. We spent the rest of the day cleaning up feathers and burying or attending to the wounded. I'm not a crazy person I just love my animals. The chickens lived in a barn with a heater and a fan, they had heated water in the winter time and a light that came on to give them more daylight hours. My rabbits live in a barn with heat and air-conditioning. The goats also have a swamp cooler and heat lights if they are needed. I pamper my pets all of them..... they have clean bedding, hay and grain and it is a lot of work.
I was sick most of the rest of the day, literally sick, throwing up and upset stomach.....today I am just sad. My yard is empty...........no honking geese, or quacking ducks, no chickens scratching in the grass. The cats got to go outside for the first time today and even they seem to sense something is not right. They usually stay outside awhile and play but they came back in the house with me after I checked on the wounded ducks. I don't know what else to say.....I'm just a big gooey glob right now...........

We will try to get some work done out in the wood barn later tonight........

Changes.......

2011-10-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well things change as they must.....
I have finally taken the plunge and started a ThreadsthruTime group on Ravelry.
I hope everyone goes over and takes a look we are just getting things going so it is a little slow right now. I have a suggestions thread going and several others if you have any ideas please post them there. I am still learning my way around the moderator tools so it may take me a bit.
I am going to keep the blog, I will probably change its venue since I plan on posting any new additions to the etsy store in there. I will use the blog to show you want is going on inside the barn and inside our lives so it may become more personable. I told Dale tonight to spiffy up his barn as I plan on taking you inside the interal workings soon. LOL!

So if you are on ravelry I used the same banner for the ravelry group that is on the etsy group. Just look for the long row of dymondwood turkish spindles and drop in to visit with us awhile.

=+}

The NEW COLORS are HERE!

2011-09-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Actually a few new colors and a few old colors that haven't been seen in awhile.........

We have some new colors.......Wild Berry, Indian Blanket aka Firewheel. One of the old colors brought back is Southern Gem formerly known as Spring. This is the one that started the dymondwood Turkish Spindles....our first color.

Wild Berry, is a purple and reddish color reminds me of blueberries and raspberries in one wheel. Indian Blanket or Firewheel is named after the Oklahoma State Flower by the same name and colors.

Here is a sneak peek.......

These are also light spindles.....if you have been wanting a lightweight spindle in a dymondwood here they are......most of them are mediums with a weight range of 1.0 ounce up to 1.2 ounces. There are two large spindles with a weight of 1.6 and 1.7........
I will be listing them later today...........

New item being listed NOW!

2011-08-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have added some new fibers, and weaving tools to the etsy site ....you might want to check them out.

We have decided to make the inkle looms out of hard wood Maple instead of the laminated woods they were made out of previously .....very pretty.

I have added some new jewel colored bamboo roving..........watch for samples in your orders.

We have finally gotten around to making some more inkle shuttles and small loom shuttles and they have been added to the store.......have a look more stuff coming soon.

TOO HOT!

2011-08-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

OK! So Dale and I got out in the heat Saturday, cleaning out and rearranging the garage....it was 102 degrees in the shade........not sure what the heat index was. We have had temps in the 100's for about 3 months now......everything is dead or dying. Garden is gone, my cotton is about a foot and a half tall, trees are dropping leaves, its horrible outside. We did have a little reprieve the second week of August it rained for the first time since early May, the temps dropped into the 90's for a week it felt wonderful. LOL! I know that sounds weird but it felt good for about a week and now we are back to the really bad heat. Anyway back to my story........
Dale and I are both over weight and in our mid 50's........when we were younger and slimmer it was nothing for us to work from dawn until way after dark outside in all kinds of weather. We built the barn Dale has his wood shop in, the smaller barn, which houses, the chickens, goats and now storage but was his old wood shop. We have put up retaining walls along the creek to stop erosion, we still need to work on a few areas. Dale and Josh dug by hand our 20 by 14 foot Koi pond that is 4-1/2 feet deep, we then drove out in the country and brought back huge rocks to go around the edge of it. That is just some of the things we have done around this place...we have done as much at all the places we have lived so we are no strangers to outside work or heat..........but this time it ZAPPED us big time..........I guess there comes a time when even we have to admit when we are getting OLD!!
We had intended to work in the garage on Saturday and then finish up 20 or so spindles on Sunday and get them listed.....yeah! that was the plan! Sunday we were worn out, we stayed in the house and just zoned out! Both of us felt sick, my back was killing me, Dale didn't feel good. So we didn't get the spindles finished.
I listed 10 tiny dymondwood spindles last night and will be listing a few medium and large spindles a little later today. Have you ever wanted a Large spindle that weighed a medium spindle weight? Have you ever wanted a medium spindle at a tiny weight? That is what I will be listing......they are mostly made from the recycled Walnut, Pecan, or cherry trees lost in the winter storms and the cherry was lost in a strong wind storm several years back. I was talking to Dale about the trees last night and he said the Pecan tree belonged to a friend of his and was lost in the ice storm back in 1996 he thinks.... That tree was HUGE it would have taken 2-1/2 people to link arms around that tree to give it a hug. The walnut was a tree that fell during a bad ice storm about 5 years ago. It was a huge tree in a lot next to where Dale works....he managed to get a big piece of it to save. The cherry was a big old tree......big as a old cherry tree could get and was lost during a wind storm a few years back.....they say it has the sweetest cherries on it. While all the trees are lost they are not forgotten we can carry a piece of them with us to cherish for years to come....... So get them while you can they we do have a limited supply of this wood.

Sound the bells.....we have a WINNER!

2011-08-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

OK! I didn't say you couldn't guess more then once so we have a winner of the, What is it? contest.
A couple of you came close..... = }
Dale, really likes some of the ideas you gave him for the needle case and the crochet hook case, and others .....so you might watch for those to come up later. Thank You to everyone who participated, I was getting ready to draw a name from the box. LOL!

Berni, will you email me with your full name and address...threadsthrutime (AT) cox.net....you are our WINNER! You get to pick either the red one or the blue one..... Congradulations!

What is it!!??

2011-08-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

In honor of August being my birth month, I thought we should have a little contest and give something away. Send me a note either in the comments below or a email and tell me what you think it is. The first one to answer correctly will get to pick either the red one or blue one and we will ship it to you as a birthday gift from me. If no one guessing correctly by Friday the 19th, I will place everyone who participant's name in a drawing. I will announce the winning name by the end of the day Friday. If someone answers correctly before Friday the contest will end and I will reveal the answer as well as the winners name.

One is 4 inches long and the other is about 4-1/4 inches long.......they are made out of dymondwoods. No, its not some strange new lipstick.......it is a tool but not necessarily a spinners tool. That is all the clues you get from me.....
You can click on the photo to enlarge it.......What is it!??

Before and After

2011-08-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

We are often asked to custom make a certain mix of colors in the dymondwoods. I have to explain to them we do not make up those woods, we buy them already mixed and glued up. The woods come to us pre-dyed and pre-glued sometimes the colors are not as dark or light as the previous colorway. We as spinners should understand this....we know to order enough of the same color yarn or fiber to finish a project. So sometimes a spindle of the same wood may be a slightly different shade from one block of wood to another.
I thought it would be interesting to show you some before and after photos of the woods and the spindles made from them.

(If you click on the photos you will get a larger version so you can see up close.)

The smaller blocks with the oval holes are the spindle arms or whorls that have been pre-drilled but not yet cut out. Each tiny block with make the small arms, and the large arms for a complete set. They will be cut apart, sanded, buffed, and polished. We will then turn a shaft that also has to be sanded, buffed, and polished before completing the spindle.

Spindle alert: I will be listing several tiny and medium dymondwood spindle some time tomorrow. Each spindle gets 5 photos each....I then have to edit the photos for clarity....before listing them. This means if I list 10 spindles, I have to take 50 photos, which all have to be edited and then positioned in the folder so I can get them listed.....

We do have a few new colors and a few old colors not seen in awhile......we are working on them now.

Thanks for all your support.......

Hello! Is any one out there......

2011-08-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

I laugh! ROFL!!! I am so funny!

Anyway.............I will be listing some really light medium spindles made of recycled walnut and pecan here is a couple of hours. These are the ones made of the trees felled in the ice storm and wind storms that blew through here a few years ago.......they live on as Turkish spindles. The weight on these beauties is 0.8 ounces.

I will also be listing 8 dymondwood medium spindles in various weights........ so stay tuned .......

Wholesale and bulk discounts!!??

2011-08-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

I get this question all the time, " Do you do wholesale or bulk order!?"

Unfortunately, NO! Not because we don't want to but because, we just do not have the inventory on hand to do it.

Let me try to break it down this way......... Dale still has a day job and works 8 hours a day....not counting the 20 minutes to and from work each day. He comes home and takes a quick 45 minute nap...... We then eat supper...were from the South ya'll we eat supper. Around 6ish he then goes out to the woodshop and works for 2-3 hours a night.........he then comes in and we take care of packaging and getting labels put on items that need to be sent out. Depending on the day it can take from 30 minutes to 2 hours.....A shower and then he lounges/naps in front of the TV until about 11:30 or 12:00 when he retires to bed.....gets up and does it all over again.

It takes at least a week (7 days) for him to make 10 - 20 spindles......if he doesn't have to stop to do something around the house...you know husband chores. We do not have (spindle and looms) inventory except for what you see in the etsy store. Dale is a hard person to work for....I've tried, Joshua has tried, and other people have tried. If it isn't up to his standard it doesn't get put up for sale.... period! Joshua, has started making his own stuff but if Dale say nope it isn't listed.

From start to finish......the spindle whorls are rough cut out...then they go to the router to have the holes cut out. Then they are sanded smooth, polished, and buffed. He then takes them to the wood lathe where he turns the spindle shafts, fits them in the whorls, sands them, test fits again, polishes and buffs them.....one at a time.

We can't do shows anymore....for one I have stomach problems which makes it hard to travel. The other reason is we don't have the inventory to go to shows......we would hear you all screaming for miles if we stopped selling spindles on etsy so we could carry them to a show somewhere. For this same reason we do not have bulk discounts either.

We used to do shows......we have been down that long hard road.......getting everything packed to go to a show....driving....hotels...eating out.....setting up for the show....packing up after the show.....driving...eating out.... unpacking when we get home and are too tired to even care if it gets unpacked.........been there done that and have the t-shirt to prove it..... =+} I'll sit at home in my fluffy slippers, sipping tea in my pj's......Thank You very much! I do miss meeting the people, and talking to everyone but a body can only take so much.....

I know I've probably repeated myself here several times ...I'm not that good a writing........I tend to write like I talk .....run on sentences and all......... LOL!

On another note:

I hope you all understand we are doing the best we can.......Oklahoma is in a drought temperatures are the highest they have been since the 30's grass is all brown and dry.......Dale is working in a air-conditioned barn but even at that while the temps outside are high (115 degrees today) in his barn its in the 80's. We are loosing animals to this heat........they have cool water and we even have fans on them.......its hot! Night time lows are in the high 80's.....its hard to breathe when you step out the door...please help us pray for rain..........I know there are other states that are needing it as bad as we are.........Texas is one of them. Water rationing is looming and has begun in several small towns .........rolling black outs are being discussed....its bad!!

Ok, I'll shush now........thanks for listening!

Tiny spindles everywhere and a few mediums too!

2011-07-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

I feel like the town crier.......the spindles are coming, more spindles are coming!!

I will be posting 13 tiny spindles and I think 5 medium spindles in just a little while......so stay tuned to the etsy shop, the spindles are coming.

Also, if you have been wanting a medium spindle with a tiny weight..you are in luck, I have one or two with this listing but....... I will have several in a few days. They will be in the exotic woods not the dymondwoods......sorry. The density of the dymondwoods makes it relatively impossible to shave enough off to drop the weight on them that low.

So stay in where it is cool, make yourself comfy , have a nice glass of tea because..........more spindle are coming!!!

Comments

2011-07-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

Please feel free to leave comments on this blog when ever you can.....I hate that empty sound.....like feedback it makes me feel like someone is listening. =+}

Speaking of feedback..........please leave feedback on etsy when you buy something even if its just a Thanks or Thank You. I prefer that to a blank feedback even though it may be a poitive blank feedback it leaves us with the question........were they unhappy!? was there something wrong!? I especailly hate it when I have worked so hard on getting everything just the way they want it sending email back and forth and then we get a blank feedback from them...........were like whoa! what happened there!? Ruins my whole day....... =+{

If there ever is a problem with anything.......please let us know ...........send us a note, a email, call us, we can work the problem out. Please don't bash us on a public forum before you have even discussed the problem with us. Yes, we are extremely busy but we are never to busy to listen if you have a problem with something. We will do our darnedest to fix it, whatever it may be and how ever long it has been since you made the purchase.

The feedback comments are like icing on our cake it really keeps us going it lets us know we are doing something positive.....

Are we ever going to make more spindles!!???

2011-07-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

The short answer is .....yep!
I posted several medium exotic wood spindles last week and there are a few left. Some of the rosewoods are getting quite scarse and when these are gone there may not be any more.....

I will be posting 19 tiny spindles on Sunday ....9 of them are dymondwood the rest are exotic woods. Dale tells me he may have a couple more and then he will be working on mediums. Here is a sneak peek..........

We have a few new small things listed one of them is a bobbin winder to go with the russian spindles or they can be used as sample bobbins in classes. There are a lot of little uses for them........speaking of a lot of uses. Have you seen the new orificer threaders? They are made to be used to thread the orifice on a mini spinner, but you can also use them on your regular spinning wheel orifice. Make sure to watch the length of them though as we are making some of them in short lengths. The shorter ones can be used with ridged heddle looms, tape looms, and the list goes on as they do have a multitude of uses.

Keep an eye on us no telling what we might come up with next.......=+}

Time out needed

2011-07-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

The heat is getting to us and we are all feeling a bit tired and cranky lately.........we are going to close the etsy shop for a bit to give us a chance to rest, catch up and enjoy the holiday weekend........

Shop will be closing late tonight and won't open until next week sometime after the holiday..........

Thanks and enjoy your 4th of July...........

Dale, Barbara, and Joshua

What's going on!!!

2011-06-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Pardon our dust! LOL!
Dale and I took the weekend off to work on getting my little spinning shop re-organized. My little shop is in our converted garage......we weren't using it for anything but storage anyway! :)

Dale, made me a few storage bins to tidy the place up a bit.......we still need to make two more to replace the plastic drawer organizer's I am currently using. I actually have more room! YEAH!

It has taken him away from making spindles .............sorry! :( That is why we have been a little slow this last week getting them out and listed. We are working on more spindles and will hold off making the last two storage bins for a little while.....not too long though.

I have been spending the last few days finding new places to put things. I even re-organize my personal book shelf...(not shown in photos). While getting the books taken down I fell off my two step ladder and hurt my arm. How do you fall off a two step ladder? I had been using the first step and must have absentmindedly stepped up on the 2nd step, which I rarely do anymore. I stepped down as though I was on the first step with a heavy shelf in my hands and stumbled backwards into my drumcarder table. I am just glad the 2 cats and my Yorkshire Terrier which had been under foot all day, were no where to be seen when I fell or the shelf would have hurt one of them. I have a lump on my arm just below my elbow on the bony part of my arm......which rest on the table when you type on a keyboard........making it uncomfortable to type. :(

Here are pictures so you can see what we have been doing lately........I did just post a few tiny spindles and will be posting some orifice hooks and more fiber as soon as I get pictures taken. Click on photos to see bigger and more detail if interested.......

Storage bins below.....skeins above ...........

Wire store rack for more fiber and finished items and the dye cabinet and place for small parts. .

We move around the corner past the dye cabinet to the drumcarder table..............

Drumcarder table and drumcarder.......more drawers and .......oops! That wasn't supposed to be in the photo. Ignore the Zuca cart......

Moving past the drumcarder table we have one of those nasty little plastic drawer things that needs to be replaced. It is in front of the spinning stool ....and more storage bins along with books for sale.

Another photo of the small storage bins, book shelf........and the second ugly plastic drawer organizer that needs to be replaced......
So there you have it the newly re-modeled Threads thru Time store display....... LOL!

What's new in the shop!!

2011-06-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

We have had several request for Russian support spindles.....Dale has no time so I asked Joshua (our son) if he would be interested in making some. Joshua makes the 3 in 1 tool and some of the orifice hooks. Joshua was about 13 years old when I began spinning......I began going to a group spin - in to learn how to spin. Joshua was bored and some of the other ladies were bringing there kids about the same age and younger so I brought Josh along. While I was learning how to use a wool picker one of the ladies asked Josh if he would like to learn how to spin, his comment was, I already know how! Now this peeked my curiosity so I went up behind to watch what he would do........he sat down at my wheel and began spinning....the little stink had been practicing on my wheel when I wasn't looking. I wondered why my spinning sometimes looked pretty good and other times when I was spinning it looked horrible. He was spinning better then me!!! He took to the drop spindle pretty fast also.......his favorite thing to spin was frog hair! He quit spinning for awhile but is once again working on mastering the support spindle. So if you have any advise for him ...please send it my way and I will pass it on to him........ Here is one of his new Support spindles and bowl he recently made and sold........

He will be working in the barn tonight to make more........

Spindles.....

2011-06-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

I just posted 7 tiny spindles and 3 medium spindles will have more mediums and large spindles to post in a day or two. I will also be posting more fibers and finished yarns......also some more stick shuttles in dymondwood and some tapestry bobbins.

We have a large yard 1-1/2 acres....so we took the time to mow this weekend and then it rained......looks like it was never mowed at all and we didn't even get to weed eat..... Argh!

Also, my printer went kapoot and we had to replace it along with the software to make the printer and computer talk to each other ....so now the computer is acting funny......good grief!!

The cats want feed, the dog wants attention, and I'm pooped!

Life happens sometimes and it can't be helped

2011-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Life just happens sometimes........

If you have been following this blog, then you will know back in February we all three came down with a bad virus at the same time. You may not know that that was the same time Oklahoma was socked with a record breaking snow fall. The temps stayed below freezing for over a week..... Now here we were all three sick, the animals still needed feed, ice had to be broken and water carried.....we muddled through some how. We did however forget all about the 2 Koi fish ponds........

The pipes broke on the biggest pond and unknown to us the water emptied out of the pond. This is a big pond Dale and Josh dug it by hand, it is 4 foot deep in some places by 20 foot wide and 12 foot across. All but about a foot of water drained out of this pond during the worst part of winter and we were all too sick to notice. Then of course I had my hernia surgery and Mom came to stay for several months while she had surgery. The Koi in this pond were huge and about 16 years old..........we lost them all...it still makes me sick to think about it. The little pond was a smaller pond and the first one we dug by hand also. It is about 2-1/2 foot deep and 7 foot across one way and 5 foot the other way. We cemented it when we made it so we wouldn't have to line the pond, well it froze and developed a few cracks. Then a 5 foot tall crane decided to have lunch on my goldfish that had survived the winter, while the water level was low in the big pond.

Where is all this leading too you are wondering!? Well Dale has a full time job working days at Holly refinery in Tulsa, he is a draftsman only they don't call them that anymore.....he's a pipe designer. He comes home we have dinner and then he goes out to the barn to work on spindles for 2 hours. He comes in the house and then we work on packing and shipping for another 2 hours before he takes a showers and goes to bed. I give spinning lessons, answer the phone, take care of critters, take photos, answer a bazillion emails, and take care of the general work associated with a home business, as well as housework, LOL! Sometimes on the weekend we work on stuff in the yard like mowing, gardening, weeding, and now repairing the fish ponds. All of this adds up over time and we are WAY behind on making spindles and getting them listed for this we apologize but ...life just sometimes happens. We did finally get the little pond lined and rescued 10 surviving goldfish. You can see the finished product here-------------->

We would also like to Thank all of you for being so patient and for all the wonderful comments I have seen on various blogs, chat groups and especially Ravelry. We also want to Thank all of the stores that have asked to carry our spindles both here in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia. We wish we could accommodate all of you but there just isn't enough of us to go around and as I mentioned ....Life happens sometimes. We are both in our mid 50's and there are no plans in the works to retire or change our ways.....so life will just have to happen and we will continue to muddle through as we always have.......

I have and will be listing spindles mostly on the weekends and I sometimes just don't/can't find the time to let you know in advance so watch for new listings on the weekends for wood items. I have been adding Ashland Bay fibers to etsy as I get the photos taken and will continue to do so.... I also carry Louet spinning wheels and drumcarders, Majacraft wheels and Kromski wheels... I don't always have a full inventory but can drop ship to anywhere in the USA if your in the market drop me a email and we can talk.

More, More and More

2011-05-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I just listed 20 medium and tiny dymondwood spindles.....go check them out when you get a chance. I also listed more of the fat tailed inkle pick up sticks as well as some mini inkle shuttles. There is one new stick shuttle in a very interesting coloway...one side is pink the other side is turquoise. I doubt that will be repeated but who knows Dale is always surprising me. I am getting ready to photograph and list 11 out of 22 pickup stick or shed sticks.

One of our customers wrote in saying;
Beautiful! The large eye on this stick makes it easy to do "bows" and other rigid heddle patterns with large supplementary wefts such as in the Jane Patrick and Betty Lynn Davenport books. ....that they were perfect for making bows and other pick up patterns in the Betty Davenport and other ridged heddle books.

Here is a preview of the shuttles......

I hope you get a chance to have a look at some of the new items being listed.....

Happy Spinning and Weaving.......

New spindles up tonight!

2011-05-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

Finally things are getting back to normal, we took a few days off from making spindles to just rest and work a little in the yard.....it needs more work. More on that later..........

I will be listing several dymondwood spindles later tonight in the medium and tiny sizes. I just have to email everyone that they are coming, finish getting them weighed and labeled, photograped and and then I can list them. I think there are 11 of each size.........
Thanks!

Whew!!! What a year!!

2011-05-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Well if you have been keeping up with the blogs then you know how our year has been so far. To try to give you the short version......we all three, at the same time, came down with a virus of some kind the first of February, it knocked us down for 2 weeks. Then my doctor decided I had a hernia after all and sent me to another doctor who promptly removed it for me. So now I can't lift, push, move, cough, drive, etc. for several months according to the doctor in charge.
Then the first part of March, my mom who still lives in that tiny town I grew up in, had to come to Tulsa (12 miles from Sapulpa) to see her thyroid doctor. The doctor decided the thing was growing and it needed to be removed. (That little town I grew up in is a 2 hour drive from our house), so it was decided she would stay at our house for a couple of weeks while she has surgery.
So we had Dale drive us to the thyroid doctor (I couldn't drive yet so Dale had to take off work) test were set up and the surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks out. During one of the test a gurgle was detected in a neck vein......thyroid surgery was cancelled. We then had to go to a heart doctor which meant multiple labs, stress testing, angiograms (where they run a tube up your leg to look at your veins). Most of this time I couldn't/shouldn't be driving, Dale was having to take off work from his day job to take us to all these appointments both hers and mine. He was also having to do most of the work around the house.....Mom did what she could until the doctor finally told me I could drive and do a little light work around the house. When all the heart doctor found was a small shrinkage in one of her veins the thyroid surgery was re-scheduled for the end of April. (Remember she came here in early March) More lab work, pre-op testing, my sisters came down, mom had her surgery and all went well. My sisters went home, mom is on the mend and has decided its time to go home she has things she needs to do and get settled back in before she returns to work on the 16th of this month.......Mom is 79 years young, she will be 80 in September. (That was the short version!!)

Sooooo all of this has put us behind on spindle making, listing items on etsy, and stuff in general. Life is slowly beginning to get back to 'normal' and we are making spindles again......slowly but we are getting there.
At least we were until Dale's saw broke and we had to wait for a replacement part. Dale decided to just go buy a small saw and use it for back up in case his monster saw broke again. So the part arrived the saw is fixed. I had just listed some "regular' exotic wood spindles before the saw broke. I did not have time to blog about them at the time, there are a few left in various weights. Dale says he should have several medium and tiny dymodwood (the colorful ones) for me to list in a day or two so watch for those. I have tons of fiber I need to get photographed and listed, some books, and much more....stay tuned folks.
Whew! What a year it has been and it ain't over yet!!

Something New for Inkle Lovers

2011-04-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Looking for something new and different well have I got something for you.........

They are pick up sticks or shed sticks which ever you prefer.......the ends have a nice beveled edge to pick up even the finest threads. They come in various colors, lengths and styles.

We even have a few of these................

Isn't it pretty..........I will be listing these on the etsy store as soon as I finish this post........we have already sold out of the few I listed this morning..................

We have listed several Turkish spindles and should have more to list tomorrow afternoon.........

Enjoy!

More spindles

2011-04-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

I had planned on posting more spindles tonight but Dale only has half of them finished and I hate to post just a few so it will be tomorrow night before I get the new spindles posted. There are 10 mediums and I think he said 12 tiny ones to list, they are all out of the "regular exotic woods".

Sorry for any inconvenience but better you know then sitting there waiting on me to list them.........

Were Back!

2011-04-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well finally, we may be seeing the end of the tunnel. I am finally able to drive again, so that is a BIG help since Mom is still going back and forth to doctors. I think we may be done with the heart doctors and are now going to be going back to the thyroid doctors.

Here is the news from the barn, we are making spindles again!!! I should have several to list this weekend. Dale has said he has several rough cut in all 3 sizes and various woods, so there should be a variety to choose from....check back this weekend sometime.

We are being asked about our inkle loom shuttles, so I will be listing some of the shuttles separate from the inkle looms. For now they will all be out out of the Baltic Birch, I am hoping to persuade him and Josh to make some out of other woods. Everyone seem to like the sharp edges our shuttles have as they pack the warp much tighter then the blunt ended shuttles. I also plan on having them make some pick up sticks and mini shuttles to be used for color changes.

As I said hopefully things are changing and we can get back to normal again and have more spindles and other items to list. I have cancelled All of our shows for this year in hopes of eventually getting caught up.

Thank You, for all your patience and support during these trying times............

more spindles coming

2011-03-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

I will be listing a few medium tonight (Saturday) and a few tiny ones tomorrow night ( Sunday). The medium size will all be made of the "regular" exotic woods....if I don't decide to keep about half of them for myself. I sometimes feel like that little guy in Lord of the Rings....."mine, mine, all mine and you can't have any". LOL!

The tiny ones are mostly out of the regular wood with 3 of them being the dymondwood....a tiny Key Lime, a tiny Tooti Fruiti, and a tiny Wildflower. The remainder will be Rosewoods, Olive woods ............

On the home front the doctor said I could slowly begin "normal every day life" the first of May. I tried to drive the other day and was sore for it the next two days......so I guess I'll have to be good.

My Mom is staying with us for now she is going in for Thyroid surgery this next Friday, no foolin'. Mom will be staying with us until she recovers and can go back home, she is 79 years young but we could still use a few prayers and good wishes. So once again I will be pre-occupied with other things and slow to answer e-mails.

Dale is doing his best to keep up with us and making spindles..........

The Spindles as coming!!!

2011-03-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

I see spindles!!

I should be listing them either tonight or tomorrow some are made of dymondwood and some are made of exotic woods. Looks like they are all mediums but the weights will vary quite a bit with this group.
We should have more by the middle of next week.......

On my surgery, I am doing better.....still can't lift anything per doctors orders....so I am relying on Dale and Josh to do EVERYTHING. Do you know how boring it is to sit and do nothing!!?? I am catching up on reading but even that is getting boring.

We want to Thank everyone for being so patient with us . I want to Thank everyone who has sent me a private message or message through this blog of well wishes it means a lot to me.........

Let there be light!

2011-03-11T14:31:00.001-08:00

I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

I will be posting some inkle looms a little later and then ...cross your fingers I may have some spindles by the middle of next week.

Dale is working away as fast as he can.....since the operation I can't lift ANYTHING. !!!! I do mean anything a gallon of milk is too heavy for me to list. The doctor doesn't want me to even sneeze for the next 6 weeks....... Dale has to wash clothes, cook, vacuum, take out the trash, attend to critters, all those little things I did before surgery! He also has spindles and inkles to make as well as his real job........so he is crabby, cranky, and plain ole tired. ....can I get a awe poor baby!!!!

We appreciate everyone being so understanding and patiently waiting for new spindles.....I think he is working on medium spindles out of "regular' woods...but don't hold me to it.

February just keeps on punching

2011-02-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

February just keeps on punching us down........

We are all finally back to ourselves after the virus and snow storm hit us the first of the month, but the punches keep coming.....see below.

Dale has been trying to get caught up with spindles.....I posted several tiny ones last week and will be posting several medium and large spindles tonight and maybe tomorrow.

Here is a small preview of the spindles I will be listing.......

Now the rest of the story......I will be missing in action for a few days next week. I have a rather large hernia and will be going in for surgery next week, so orders maybe slow getting processed and shipped...... Please accept our apologies in advance. Dale makes the spindles but is horrible at checking emails therefore it may be a day or two before I wake up and get back to the computer. :)

Thank You for all your support we really appreciate all of you.............

TKO

2011-02-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

Dale, Joshua, and I have been totally knocked out for the past 12 days by a virus of some kind. Yes, we went to a doctor and he confirmed that we didn't have a flu and we didn't have pneumonia, we had a virus......none of us had the presence of mind to ask what kind!?

It started with a dry hacking cough which then became a low grade fever and all we wanted to do was sleep. Nothing tasted good or sounded good so for 3 straight days we all slept while it snowed outside. We did drink I made sure everyone drank something ........we managed some soup and a piece of a sandwich. We hurt all over and I do mean hurt...felt like we had gone 3 rounds with a grizzly and lost all of them. We are still weak as kittens, I have trouble going from one room to another without holding something. My knees feel like they are going to buckle at any minute. Dale and Josh have a little more energy then me and are returning to normal activities.....I'm trying to keep up.

During all of this Oklahoma broke some records......27 inches of snow. Tulsa went down to -12 degrees other parts of the state dropped to -31 degrees......yes those are minuses. We are still digging our way out......during our sickness we had to shovel a path for the goats so they could get to the heated water trough. We also had to shovel a path so the two Yorkshire Terriers could go to the restroom. One of our kind neighbors shoveled part of the drive.......Dale and Josh shoveled the rest so they could get to work.....yes, they drove to work this last week.

Today is the first day Dale has been out to the wood barn in 10 days......so, No we haven't made any spindles, or inkle looms or anything else. We are going to be way behind......... I know it is late but if you are still interested in a Valentine spindle please let me know. I know, I have one person wanting a medium spindle......Dale is going to work on those today. Let me know so I can let him know how many to get made.....I know they will be late......we do apologize for that but it couldn't be avoided.

Valentine Spindle

2011-01-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well I goofed, I'm allowed once in awhile :( Good thing Dale caught this before I posted the pictures..........

The tiny spindle I called Cranberry is our Valentine spindle....... the wood company calls it Cranberry but I am calling it "Razzle Dazzle Red". I am listing 3 of them at this time, we will be making more of them. If you want one in a larger size email me and I'll let the boss know. I am going to list them individually because each one has its own color design and elements. The color is a cross between a wine and a red color. Its a real sweetheart of a spindle.

Also take a look at the Artic Blue spindles you can almost see the aurora borealis in them.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly news.....

2011-01-31T13:24:00.000-08:00

The Good news is.........yes, we are going to continue to make spindles. I have been asked that a lot lately!!?? "Are you going to continue to make spindles??" Where is that coming from I wonder? .......Anyway the good news is Yes, we are! I will continue to let you know here before I list news spindles. I will be listing a few tiny spindles later today in fact. We were able to get some more of the Cobalt Blue dymondwood and I will have 3 to list today in tiny. There will be two other new colors to list also a lighter Artic Blue and a new Cranberry color.

The Bad news is that Dale is tired and so production has been slow...also the barn is cold even though I solved his cold feet problem. :) We are going to rest a bit this month, so we are going on semi-vacation mode. I will list a few spindles when he feels like going out to work in the barn. That means the listings for spindles will be slim this month but there will be listings...see the good news above.

The Ugly, I have been putting this off and can no longer put it off.....postal rates have risen and I am going to have to go up on shipping cost....ugh! I hate doing that!

So there you have it.........all the news that is news :)

More spindles......

2011-01-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

I will be posting several medium dymondwood spindles later tonight if you have been waiting for them here they are.......some new colors and some old colors.

We apologize for taking so long to make spindles right now......it is cold in the barn! We did get it insulated and we do have heat out there but the cold cement floor even with thick pads is hard on our feet and legs. So we are doing the best we can and sitting a lot.

Note: If we ever build another barn with a cement floor we need to put heat pipes in the floor. LOL! Yeah! like that's gonna happen!

Oh! We have also listed more of the Limited Edition Spindles, we are on numbers 6 through 11 at this time.....so you still have time to get one. We will have our next special spindle ready in a week or so...stay tuned.

NOTE: The Limited Edition Anniversary spindle will be the only one numbered all other special spindles this year will NOT be numbered.

Time Passes

2011-01-19T08:21:00.001-08:00

Time passes very quickly as we all know very well.....

I have had a etsy shop since August of 2007, I opened it in hopes of selling some finished items and spun yarn. I sold a few things and then simply forgot I even had a etsy shop when things quit selling. Flash forward to this time last year....I decided to close the shop down since nothing was happening and I was just taking up space some else could use. Dale (aka the boss) said I should try it again to see if things had changed. We had been making the bigger Turkish spindles and selling them locally at this time. I asked Dale for a tiny spindle that I could hang from the rear view mirror on my new vehicle so I could find it easier in the parking lot. He made a top whorl drop spindle about 4 inches long, it was OK but I wanted something different, besides it doesn't spin yarn.
I finally convinced him to make a tiny Turkish spindle, imagine my surprise when it actually spun yarn...well thread. LOL! I thought this would be a neat item to add to the etsy site someone else might want a car ornament/ spindle to use in case of a spinning melt down while waiting in traffic. The first Turkish spindle listed was made entirely of Maple and was a real lightweight, it weighed .37 ounces, it was 4-1/2 inches long with a arm length of 2 inches. It was listed on January 27th and sold on February 3rd to "Gullate". This was followed by 2 more spindles on the 4th and another on the 5th of February. Dale was surprised and amazed when I told him I needed more spindles and people were actually writing us and asking for more! LOL! He didn't believe me until I showed him the emails and paypal payments. The little tiny spindle #6 in the photo above was our first spindle sold on etsy. So even though I have been on etsy since 2007, we consider February the 3rd our 1 year anniversary on etsy. Just by coincidence February the 4th is Dale's 50 something birthday.

In honor of this we have made a special limited edition tiny Turkish spindle. We sold 14 spindles back in February of last year, we are limiting this special edition to 15 spindles....one for luck. I will take special orders on this spindle, we are letting out blog followers know about it first. Let me know you want one and I will send you a paypal invoice...the price for this one time spindle is $ 40.00 and that includes shipping to US only, add an additional $5.00 for International orders.

This spindle will arrive with some very special fiber......Number 1 is already reserved......14 are left!

Remember email me for a invoice to purchase this spindle. Threadsthrutime AT cox DOT net (make sure to replace the AT and Dot with the correct symbols)

It is made with a Osage Orange shaft, and the whorl is made of Gaboon Ebony. Gaboon Ebony is one of the darkest, blackest ebonys and therefore the most expensive ebony sold. We have used it in small amounts on shafts but we have never, nor will we ever again use it for whorls. They are 4-1/2 inches long, 2-1/2 inches wide and weigh 0.7 ounces.

Note: I will list these on etsy this weekend sometime.....

Psssst! Psssst! We have other special spindles planed for the remainder of the year the next one is a real sweetheart. I will try to let you know a day or two before I list them on etsy.........

NEWS, NEWS, AND SOME MORE NEWS

2011-01-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

I will be listing some tiny dymondwood spindles later in the day, we have some new colors and old colors to list. It will be a few days before I have any Mediums to list.

We are working on several things all at once and it seems to have slowed us down a bit on production. Please be patient with us.......

We are going to have several themed spindles this year in limited numbers, the first of which will be listed in a day or two. Those reading the blog will have the first chance to buy and then I will list any remaining spindles on etsy.

I'm still working on my camera issues with lighting and hope to have that resolved soon so I can post more fibers. The lighting problems seem to affect the fibers only for some reason the spindles come out alright ....at least on my monitor they do.

Stay warm and stay tuned for more spindle news..........

Wood Density 101

2011-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

I am going to attempt to answer a few wood questions as time allows. We get this one a lot so I thought I would begin with it : I love the colors on this spindle, is there any way you can make the exact same one but make it weigh more/less?
The short answer is no.....the longer answer is, it has to do with the density of the wood. Some woods have a closer grain then others which determines how heavy or light the wood will be. The grain of the wood also effects the density of the woods. If a wood is slow growing it is going to be denser then other woods......ebony, teak, pink ivory, ligium vitae, are all very dense woods. Ash, pine, aspen, cypress, almost all spalted woods, mahogany, are all fast growing light weight woods. So unless we can make the tree grow slower we can't change the density or weight of the wood pieces.
Another consideration is where the wood comes from on the tree, heart wood is denser then sap wood which is the outer ring of the tree. Heart wood is actually a dead wood where the wood is beginning to dry out, the growth of the tree is in the sap wood. You can identify heart wood as it is usually the darkest part of the wood. So we sometimes have the same type of wood with different weights, because one piece may have come from the outer rings and another piece may have been closer to the inner heart wood.
There are also various types of laminated woods, we use several name brands one of them is Dymondwood. There is a weight difference between the different brands and has to do with the adhesive used on the various woods. Dymondwood, uses a polyester resign to saturate and bond the wood veneers together creating a dense block of wood. Others brands use a wood glue to bond the veneers together creating a lighter block of wood. This is why some of the color wood spindles weigh more then others, we can not change the weight on these anymore then we could change the weight on the other woods we use.
We hope this answers your spindle weight question if there is anything I can clarify, please let me know and I will answer it in another post.

Our thoughts on the past year.......

2010-12-22T11:08:00.001-08:00

As this year is coming to an end, we take time to look back at this extraordinary year. Our thoughts go back to what has made this such a wonderful year and we could only attribute it to one thing---you our friends and customers.

Our goal was to make a quality product to sell at a reasonable price, based on our sales we think you the customer has agreed. We have tried to keep our selection varied changing colors to keep things interesting. The support we received this year did not go unnoticed, we tried to spice things up this month by giving away several Christmas themed spindles and discount coupons. This went so well that we have decided to show our appreciation to you our customers more then once a year. Keep watching the blog as we plan at our whim, just because, and when we want to.....we may just throw a giveaway out there or have a special one of a kind something. We aren't sure just yet what we will do but if you are reading this blog, you will be the first to know.

In closing, we would like to Thank all of our customers and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope your new year will be as exciting and rewarding for you and your family as we hope it will be for ours.

Dale, Barbara, and Joshua Thomas
Thomas-Creations llc.com
ThreadsthruTime.etsy

The Winners of The turkish Spindles Are.......

2010-12-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, this has been a humbling experience....LOL! We had 20 people respond to the Spindle drawing either by blog or by email. I know I am terrible at blogging but geessh! LOL!!

Anyway, here we go the winners for the Turkish Spindle give away are ....#1 is bspinner of Millersburg, PA ....#2 Lisa responded via blog.... and #3....Michelle Eveans ....

I need each of you to email me your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices on small medium or large Turkish Spindle in the Holiday Holly color, bspinner will get first pick and so on.......

Now for the 2nd surprise........ Josiah......bekknits, and Miss Cake you each won a 3 in 1 tool made by Joshua in the Holiday colors........we will pick for you....but I do need you to email me your address so we can mail these out ASAP.

Everyone else........gets a 10% off discount on their next purchase.............. I need Michelle of Boulderneigh....Jordan Buell, Ilse, Pam Ritch, Jennifer Mitton, Anne Schneider, Y. Ku, Anna, Erin (you silly tree frog), Geraldine Winter, Mimi D., Delpa, Baby Cakies, and Ruby Greene to send me a email ...... threads thrutime(AT) cox.net and I will give you the code for the coupon to use on your next purchase........

Congratulations everyone........we may be cooking up another giveaway in a couple of months........so stay tuned....... Sweetheart. ssshhh! it will be our little secret...LOL!

More news from the home front

2010-12-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

I have added a new link to the blog it lets you see whats on the etsy site .....I wanted it to show new items only. I'll work on it some more maybe I can figure it out......I wasn't born in a computer world. :0)

I should have a dozen or so Turkish spindles to post later tonight or early tomorrow morning.... I also have a few more of the new shawl pins. We had a request to make one and Dale kind of likes them so look for more soon. Josh has made a few orifice hooks and once he gets a few nights off should be making more. (Josh only gets a couple of nights off a week and being young he sometimes likes to hangout with friends.) Another thing to keep in mind, Dale likes the dymondwood, Josh likes the "plain" woods. So unless they have a special request those are the woods they will be working in most of the time...

We have been working on the new updated version of the web site...it still needs work. If you want to take a look here it is http://www.thomas-creationsllc.com/ it will carry some of the big items for now as well as a link to the etsy site.

Only 8 more days until I draw the 3 winning names for the Christmas Turkish Spindle giveaway... See past postings for more details.......

Well that's all for now I need to go see what that crashing noise was.....anyone want a rambunctious kitten for the holidays....???!!!?? arg!

Happy Thanksgiving! and other stuff...

2010-11-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful friends and extended family you our customers......

I wanted to let you know I will be adding more spindles intermittently throughout the next four days......some Christmas spindles and some regular spindles I have 4 large spindles to list a bunch of mediums and a few tiny spindles. I will also be listing some 3 in 1 tools and orifice hooks.......no photos at this time as I am in between stuffing the turkey and making gravy. So check the etsy site later tonight and tomorrow for new listings.

More big news....I do not think I mentioned this before......
I will be drawing the 3 winners names for the drawing on December the 12th about 1:00 pm Central time zone. I'm getting all nervous and excited can't wait...17 more more days and counting.....

Sneak Peek

2010-11-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

As promised I will be posting the next batch of spindles about mid morning on Monday (central time zone). I am doing the prep work tonight taking photos, editing and cropping them to fit in etsy. I thought I would send you a sneak peek to see what I will be listing.

To the left of the screen are the spindles we usually have........ There is 1- large dymondwood spindle- 4 medium dymondwood spindles and 4 tiny spindles in various colors.

Here is the sneak peek at the first batch of Christmas spindles...there will be another batch next week. Included in this batch is 1 large, 5 mediums, and 4 tiny spindles.

The red, green and yellow striped ones are called Jingle Bells, the red and green striped ones are Holiday Holly, and the white ones are American Holly in the natural color. The shafts are dymondwood in green or red or cocobolo which has a deep red look to it...

Those reading the blog will be the first to know they are being posted........ ;)

posting tiny dymondwood spindles to etsy

2010-11-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

I will be posting 7 tiny Turkish Spindles to the etsy site in a little while....so this is a heads up for those reading the blog news. Six of the seven are colors we have listed in the past one is a new fall color......we hope to have more in a few days.

Pssstt! Want to know a secret!

2010-11-13T14:42:00.000-08:00

I hear Jingle Bells and see the mistletoe hanging or is that a Turkish Spindle.

On December the 12th, we are going to give away 3 dymondwood Turkish Spindles in the Christmas colors shown to the right of your screen. All you have to do is send me a note through email here ..... threadsthrutime (AT) cox (DOT) net ...... and tell me you saw this on the blog, or leave a comment in the comment box. Since, very few people read this blog (according to my stats) your odds of winning just got greater..... ssshhhh! I will draw the names from a box and post them here on the blog on the 12th for all to see. Sorry one entry per person.

You will receive your spindle thru priority mail in about 3 to 4 days (US) it takes a little longer for foreign mail to arrive.

We will also have these for sale sometime around Thanksgiving.........

Stay tunes to the blog for the latest spindle news.......

New Spindles

2010-11-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

I just posted some Medium and tiny spindles in the "plain" woods as many are calling them. Dale is working on two special Christmas orders so it may be a while before we have any dymondwood spindles to list.

We will have some new Turkish spindles to post around Thanksgiving.....they are in Christmas colors. They are made of dymondwood and some are red and green, while others are red, green, and gold. You will just have to wait until mid November to see them.

Joshua, is working on some support spindle bowls that will work with the Turkish spindles. It is something new to him so it will be a while before he has any thing to post to etsy. The wood he bought is a bit green and needs to season to keep from cracking . He may have to find some different wood to work with for now.

We are also working on a new item which probably won't be ready until the first of next year. Once we get the design the way we want it I will still have to write directions and take photos of it for the instruction book.

I will try to post more information on new items as I can keep watching the blog for more news. If you have any questions send me a email, I'll be happy to help in any way I can........

We're Back from vacation!

2010-10-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

We are back from SAFF, we went through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia before arriving in North Carolina. The fiber show was HUGE! I have never seen that much stuff in one place. Dale got to see all kinds of new to him wheels, spindles, and he finally got to see someone else's Tri-loom. Did you see us!? Mollie was with us so we didn't stay all day....she was getting tired of riding in a bag. Mollie, had a special prize for any one who recognized...since no one recognized us she had to bring it home.

After the fiber show we decided to go over the Smokey Mountains and the foliage was beautiful....... We spent the rest of the day traveling over the mountains into Tennessee. The next day we decided to head home so we had a day or two to work on spindles and rest a while....

We will be opening the etsy store back up later today, I'll have some tiny spindles to post later tonight. Dale is working on more spindles made from some new woods, I should have them listed by this weekend sometime.

Thanks to all of our customers for patiently waiting while we took our much needed vacation..........

A REAL VACATION

2010-10-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Dale and I haven't taken a real vacation in geesh.......probably 5 or 6 years .......maybe longer. Dale takes vacation days from work at Sinclair now Holly Corp., but we usually work on something around the house or in the yard. This coming Wednesday night, I will close up the etsy shop until we return from our trip to North Carolina. We are headed to SAFF.....Dale has never been to a real fiber festival or fiber shop for that matter and we plan on stopping at both. We are also looking forward to seeing the trees and hope the weather stays nice, although they are forecasting rain for Oklahoma. If you see us along the way stop to say howdy or just wave as we drive by.... We are going through Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi then North Carolina and up into the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee before heading back home. Poor Josh, gets to stay home, work and take care of the critters.....

Pssst! coming soon more information on a Christmas spindle give away.......stay tuned!

I SCORED A DOUBLE FLYER WHEEL!!!

2010-10-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

SCORE!!! That's what I feel like shouting every time I walk by this wheel. From the time I first saw one of these jewels I wanted one, a few weeks ago on eBay I found one. I wanted to post pictures sooner but have been busy with dyeing and posting items on etsy. I finally have a few minutes to post some photos here...... isn't she purdy!?

Yes, she's a little wobbly, you would be too if you were made about 1850 or so.... both flyer's are there and as they say in the ads everything works... LOL! It has a few worm holes and it is missing a spoke as you can see in the photo. It is also missing the distaff and most of its bone/ivory? adornments but the most important stuff is still there. Dale can make a new spoke and a new distaff in time.....

We are going to strip it with steel wool and tighten things up as much as we can .... everything is put together with wooden pegs no nails. It's going to be our winter project, like we need another one....... ppffftt!

Does anyone know how to put a drive band on one of these!!?? I have several books on spinning wheels but can't find a detailed photo...I know it crisscrosses..well anyway well figure it out. I can't wait to take her for a spin. Wonder how long its been since she went for a spin!!?? Hmmmm! If only she could talk...what stories she could tell...

Dyeing and Spindles

2010-10-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

I've been busy dyeing these last few days and hope to have it listed on etsy as soon as it dries completely. Dale has also been busy making spindles as fast as he can I should have some ready to list tomorrow.

If all goes as planned and something doesn't happen to change things we are going to take a week of actual vacation later this month. Usually when we take a week or a few days of vacation it's to work on something around the house or yard but this time we are hopeing to actually go somewhere. We are hoping to have extras items made so when we come back we won't have to scramble so hard to get things back up and running. I'll talk more about our plans later I don't want to jinxs anything. Hopefully there will be smoke on the mountains......not floods that's all I'll say. :) Back to work for now........

Window Shopping

2010-09-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

I sometimes like to go to the etsy home page and scroll through the recently listed items, I call it 'window shopping'. One night several weeks ago this listing flashed by on the screen ... www.etsy.com/listing/54136939/needle-felted-cat-pinbroach it is a gold and white cat needle felted and made into a pin. When I saw it I at once wished she had made it into a calico, like my Patches. I thought about it for a couple of days and finally decided to ask the lady if she would consider making a calico pin. Now I wasn't thinking a custom order exactly just a generic calico would make me happy, to my surprise she asked for a photo. She did tell me she had never made a special order but she would try and if I wasn't happy I didn't have to buy it and she would then just go back to the original plan and make it generic. I sent her to this blog so she could see a photo of Patches (see August post). A few days passed and she sent me this photo back. At first I thought it was just 2 photos of Patches but then I looked closer........OOHH! MY GOSH! I LOVE IT! So of course I had to have it!
It took a few weeks for it to arrive form Eastern Europe......

This is what I found when I opened the package........

A pretty box and inside was this............

...... the back of the pin.

If you get a chance go check this ladies shop.......you won't be sorry you did! I love my pin and I love window shopping........

Meet Pearl

2010-08-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Meet Pearl, the new addition to our house of cards, she is a 3-1/2 month old rescue kitten we recently adopted. It has been 12 long years since I had a kitten in the house.... I had forgotten all the trouble they can get into. LOL!

Here she is getting between me and work on the computer. Its hard to get a good photo of a moving target, she has already moved into our hearts and into the family. She sleeps all night long, only getting up to go find the potty and then she quietly goes back to bed with Josh. She does not like to be left alone and will cry until you go find her, I think she is beginning to make a game out of it. I hope everyone else has a cluttered computer desk like mine....LOL!

We have a bridge!!

2010-08-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, we finally have a bridge, the side rails and hand rails aren't up yet but it is usable. We will get them up over time and I am going to place some solar lights on the post so I can see at night, so it still has a few minor things to be done. Here is a photo of the creek before.....now that doesn't look like much does it!?

When they say flash floods in Creek County you better believe it looks like something. It can get from 5 foot to 20 feet across and you do not want to wade across it with tree limbs as big as you leg flashing through there. That water is moving.......we built the bridge at the narrowest point of the water flow. This is what it looks like now...

We also had a grass fire in the upper left of this photo so that is why the water hose is drug across and up the hill. Sorry about the messy yard....... that's Dale's wood barn way up on top of the hill in the back. The smaller barn to the right was his little barn but now it's the Angora goats, Angora rabbits, and chicken house. It's in 3 sections you just can't see it for the shade and trees.
Anyway, so we are back to work in the big barn working on floor inkles, wool pickers, and turkish spindles. Please be patient with us while we get caught up again! Sometimes life just gets in the way of playing.......

Best laid plans and all that...

2010-08-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well we had planned on taking a week off from the etsy store to work on a few things around the house and hopefully find time to make items for the store. You know what they say the best laid plans......
We did get the yard mowed and trimmed....the trimming part was way past due... I don't think the two cottontail bunnies are very happy with us trimming all of their hiding places down.
Our main goal was to build a bridge across the creek so that when we have a flash flood we can get back home. The wood barn is on one side of the creek and the house is on the other. When we are working out in the barn (no windows) and it begins to rain we don't know it until we open the door to a big surprise. Anyway we were going to build a bridge.....we got the cement part done and then Dale had to go back to the Lowe's..... He came home telling me all about the sale they were having and I maybe we should go have a little look. What the heck it was too hot to work outside so off we went to Lowe's.
The little item he was telling me about was already sold so we looked at the others that were on sale. We came home with a new washer and dryer on order to be delivered in a week. Now my 15 year old patched up several times washer and dryer needed to be moved out so we could get the new ones set up when they were delivered in a week. The walls hadn't been painted in a while so we painted the walls, then we decided to check on the plumbing and found a leaky pipe so of course we had to fix the plumbing. Then the cabinets looked a bit dingy so we decided to replace them after ALL the building supply store was having a sale. Then we decided a new kitchen table would be nice after all our 20 year old one was beginning to split a bit at the base. Sooooo a week later I have a nice freshly painted and plumbed laundry room with a brand new washer and dryer. The kitchen has a new dining table and the bridge...well the cements dry now. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to work on items for the etsy store so things will be a little sparse for awhile..........

Patches 1996-2010

2010-08-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

I lost a good friend this week....... Patches was born May 10th, 1996 and died of bone cancer August 4th, 2010. What can I say ...... I can't even find words......... Patches was always a heathy cat I never had to worry about her getting sick. She suddenly went from 16 pounds down to 6 pounds, I never even thpought about cancer....... if your reading this and your an animal lover....give those pets a hug for me and Patches.

Spindles in the making

2010-07-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Dale is working on more spindles out in the barn. We usually work on them together but it s raining and I decided to stay in the house and get a few things done.

Here is a photo taken the other day when he brought a few to the house so we could decide what color shafts they should get.

I will be adding more things to etsy as I can, I have a walnut Kromski Fantasia I need to get listed. I also have a Sonata in the clear finish I need to list. There always seems to be something to do and the days are just too short to get them all done in...

Joshua is now making spinning tools

2010-05-18T13:51:00.001-07:00

Joshua (our son) has recently began making spinning tools out in the wood shop, his most popular is the 3 in 1 tool sold on our etsy site. I thought I would give a little more back ground on Joshua.
Josh began spinning when he was 13 years old, which is when I also began spinning. I became frustrated with the wheel and put it in the corner for a couple of weeks before trying again. I noticed my spinning seemed to be improving at times. This is when I discovered it wasn't my spinning, Josh was using the wheel when I wasn't looking. I soon was sharing my wheel with him and his spinning was much better then mine.
At some of the spinning meetings other parents were bringing their kids, soon the kids were getting together in a corner and spinning or weaving. Another lady suggested they should form a kids guild so they did, they went to 4-h demos and craft shows where they gave spinning demos. One of the old Spin-Offs has some photos of some of the fiber spun by the kids from Oklahoma.
Joshua liked to spin on a drop spindle because when we went to demos....no one knew what a drop spindle was, they had a faint idea what a spinning wheel was but no idea about drop spindles. Josh eventually after about 2-3 years of spinning moved on to other things....
He has recently discovered making spindles and nostepinnes in his dad's woodshop so now the business is a family affair. Look for Joshua's items in our ThreadsthruTime etsy shop...

Where DID the time go!!??

2010-05-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to do better and get this thing caught up. Where to begin, I think I'll go back and then forward a bit.
Back in January of 2009, Dale had a torn rotator cuff and had to have surgery. While he was healing he could not work on his wool pickers or tri-looms, doctors orders. To keep himself occupied he poured over his magazines on wood working and then when the doc said it was ok, he began playing with his wood lathe. He had been playing with it some but really never had the time to play on it a lot. He began making nostepinnes, orifice hooks, drop spindles, and other things to get his arm back in shape. Once the doctor released him he began in ernest making things on the wood lathe and finally went back to making the wool pickers and tri-looms.
Now flash ahead a year and his arm is bothering him again so we have made the decision to stop taking orders on the Tri-Looms and Wool Pickers and concentrate on the smaller items that don't irritate his shoulder. We still have 2 orders for Wool Pickers and 2 for Tri-Looms to get finished and then we are done with them. He is taking his time working on them to keep from aggravating his shoulder. We are also making Turkish spindles and other small items to sell in between working on getting these orders out for the bigger items.
So we are as usual behind on both things.....the spindles are selling well but we are also working on the woolpickers and looms trying to get them finished and out the door. We also have day jobs, Dale at the refinery in Tulsa and me here at the house taking care of emails, orders, critters, the house, and whatever else that falls into my lap. We are extremely busy....... please be patient with us while we get these pickers and looms out the door so we can concentrate on the other items.
Now Joshua, our son, has decided to finally try his hand at making items on the lathe to sell so it has truly become a family business. Joshua makes wrist distaffs, nostepinnes, and his 3 in 1 tool, which is a nostepinne, wpi gauge, and wrist distaff all in one. He is thinking of trying his hand at making spindles so stay tuned...

Where has the time gone.....

2009-04-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone!!??

A little over two weeks ago we celebrated our one and only child's 21st birthday. You know the one that talked me into doing this blog...LOL!

<----------------- Joshua

Today we are celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary...and they said it wouldn't last!!! HA!!! ------------->

See how young we were back then? We were married in my Mom's living room, I wanted to elope but Dale was afraid she would worry. This is one of the few photos taken we didn't think about taking pictures, nothing fancy for us just plain and simple. The photo in the back is of my dad, he passed away 2 years prior to our wedding. We didn't notice the photo in the back ground until we were looking at photos later. It seemed appropriate that he should be standing beside me at my wedding. Yes, that's a lamp shade behind Dale's head, like I said we didn't think about taking pictures or we might have strightened things up a bit. LOL!

I have been busy these last few months with demos and now inventory....ugh! Just like Dale waiting until the last minute to remind me ! Since his rotator cuff surgery a few months ago Dale has been learning how to use a wood lathe and has made several new drop spindles, some nice wpi gauges, orfice hooks, and lace bobbins. I will try to get photos taken soon.

I have spun up some very fine (to me) lace weight yarn out of 50/50 silk and merino at 32 wpi in a 2 ply. I'm not sure what I'll do with it since I don't knit lace, wish I could just can't stay focused long enough to stay with a pattern I like. I wove a rug during one of our demos, it is handspun raw wool and locks that were dyed in indigo and madder root. I purchased it several years back with the intent to make a rug out of it one day. It turned out pretty nice my 4 pound Yorkie (Mollie) and 12 pound calico cat (Patches) are continuing to argue over just who it belongs too. I will try to get a photo of it when it isn't being occupied.........later.

New Zealand Possum

2009-01-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

I finally finished spinning some fiber that I had purchased from someones de-stashing sale early last year. It was 65%Merino/30% New Zealand Possum/5% Nylon. When I first began spinning, a woman in the guild was spinning some unusual looking fiber. When I asked what she was spinning, she said New Zealand Possum and Merino wool. It was so soft and she was spinning it so fine, of course being a new spinner I knew an exotic fiber would have to wait until I had more experience. Flash forward a few years, I had finally got to the point I thought I could handle spinning possum. So when I saw this for sale I just had to have it, but once it arrived in the mail it was not the possum I remembered seeing or feeling. This stuff was harsh feeling and had all of these noils/small white lumps in it. Who ever thought it was a good idea to put nylon in the mix really messed it up in my opinion. I had to constantly stop to pick the little lumps out of the fiber. I finally got so tired of messing with it that I didn't finish spinning all of the fiber. I wanted it gone so I removed the single onto a ball and quickly plied it then washed it and left it to dry. After it dried it suddenly transformed into ....ooh! aw! it was soft, it has a halo, it's not stiff, it's really nice stuff...... I still hate the little lumps of nylon. You can see the two little wisps of possum fur in the bottom of the photo, they are about a inch long. I had picked the small bits of nylon out of this piece of fiber so you won't see any there. You can definitely see the little lumps of nylon in the spun yarn. Now what did I do with the rest of that fiber, I think I may have to go spin the rest of it up........hmm!?

I thought I should add a little info about New Zealand Possum fiber here. It is a hollow core fiber, which makes it light and warm to wear. According to sources I found it is a smooth fiber which combined with other natural fibers will produce a yarn which does not pill and is hard wearing. The light possum fiber stands out to give a fluffy look to the finished garment. New Zealand Possum down, is similar in quality to mink and is around 1 to 1.5 inches in length. The underfur is light in color, the guard hairs are dark and tend to stick out from the spun yarn. It is suggested that it be spun fine and quite firm rather then bulky.

The Australian Bush Tail Possum was introduced into New Zealand in the 1800's, is about the size of a large domestic cat. It does not have any natural predators, and has multiplied so profusely that in some places the Forest devastation is critical. The possums ignore old leaves and eats the best new growth. In some areas it has destroyed whole trees. They compete with native birds for food such as insects and berries. It has also been known to disturb nesting birds, eating their chicks and eggs. In the past few years it has been found right in the heart of many cities.

Due to the difficulty of getting the possums out of the bush and the work involved in plucking the small amount of fur from each possum it can be expensive compared to other fibers. Therefore blending it with wool has made it more affordable and expanded its use in the fiber market.

just added to etsy

2009-01-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

To the right -> is a 50/50 blend of rainbow dyed tussah silk and merino that I blended on my drumcarder. I spun up a small sample to see how it would look you can see it there on the batt of fiber.

I have added this and some 50/50 blend camel and silk (below)to my etsy store go check it out when you have a chance....

I hope this works as this is my first time to try to add photos .......thanks for lookin'

Welcome to my blog

2009-01-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog......I'm as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. I'm not sure why , its sort of like the old party line telephones makes one feel a little exposed. My son talked me into this so its his fault!

I have dabbled in crafts of one kind or another all of my life it seems, I'm sure most of you feel the same way. I have sewn my own clothes, worked in sewing factories, and sewn for others. I have made ceramics and worked in a ceramic shop pouring molds. I made macrame plant hangers, chairs, and curtains with beads. LOL! I have re-upholstered furniture worked in an upholstery shop and even re-upholstered car interiors. One of my favorite jobs was working in a small pet store, I began by cleaning tanks and worked my way up to management. I have shown and trained dogs for confirmation and obedience trials. I have always had birds of some kind and still do... I have done tole painting and canvas painting, embroidery of all kinds, hardanger is still my favorite. I made and successfully sold teddy bears for about 8 years before retiring from that job. My hubby and I put on teddy bear shows in our area until my we retired from that.... Now I spin, weave, and teach others, hubby and I occasionally give demos at schools in the surrounding area. I have a etsy store at http://www.threadsthrutime.etsy.com/ check it out if you get a chance.

Dale (my hubby) makes wool pickers, tri-looms and inkle looms in his workshop after he gets home from his day job. Dale started having shoulder trouble from pounding in all of those nails and has recently had rotator cuff surgery. He is healing up nicely and should get his arm out of the sling tomorrow. It will still be a month or more before he is ready to pound on more nails, you can see more on his web site at http://www.thomas-creationsllc.com/

Dale and I have been married more then 32 years now and in our 12th year of marriage we were blessed with a son, our one and only. Joshua is now 20 years old and going to college, he is studying computer forensics...not sure what it is but they apparently have classes for it.

We have angora goats, french angora rabbits, bantam chickens, call ducks, ring neck dove and now diamond dove. We are owned by 2 dogs Jax a Pembroke Corgi/ Welsh Cardigan cross and Mollie a Yorkshire Terrier. We are allowed to share the same space as Patches our 10 year old calico cat.

Well, I have rambled on more then I thought I would or should. I hope to talk more about spinning fiber and preparing fiber and less about me on my next post.