#spinning a yarn

[morvith]

I stumbled on this post by @velvet4510 : "If Míriel had lived, would Fëanor still have followed the same dark path?"

I voted "no" because so much of Fëanor was shaped by his abandonment issues.

...pause for a moment as I contemplate Fëanor growing up well-adjusted.

But, let us imagine for a moment a perfect word.

A world where Miriel doesn't die after giving birth to Fëanor and Finwë still gets his large family (The other children of Finwë will maintain their original name for clarity’s sake)

So Miriel does not die, but the birth still leaves her fragile. It takes her a long time to recover and decide that she wants to try again, so much that there is a big age difference between Fëanor and Fingolfin

Which, not that unusual among Elves, I bet it's not uncommon for siblings to have about a century between them.

However, when Fingolfin comes along, Fëanor isn't just of age, he is fully established: he has found his craft, maybe he is not a master yet but at the very least he is well on his way to it.

He definitely panics at the idea of his mother being pregnant again, since he remembers his early years when mother was recovering - how weak and wan she looked, how easily she tired. There are arguments about it, but eventually Miriel puts her foot down and points out that this is her decision, she wouldn’t do it if she did not want to or feel up to it, and that's final.

But, perfect word: Miriel's second pregnancy is much, much, much easier than her first one.

Same for the pregnancies that follow. Her difficult first pregnancy becomes something to tease Fëanor about - within the family only, of course, but still. Imagine that.

Fëanor does not go down the same dark path. That  does not mean that there is no dark path, or that it's not somebody else who takes it.

Maybe in this universe Melkor can't get his claws into Fëanor because he simply feels zero resentment for his younger siblings. Why would he?

It's not like his parents do not give him attention and if one of them is busy, he can always count on the other. 

Did he get some jealousy pangs? Yes, sure. He is not perfect. But he probably kept them to himself and thoroughly regretted them once he had his own children and got to see parenting from the other side.

But what about Fingolfin, the second son? The one who grows up in the shadow of his oldest brother?

The one who is still doing all the paperwork because Fëanor is off creating and can't be bothered. The one who is taken for granted, the one who will never be considered for Crown Prince because....well, why would he? He is the second born, after all. 

And he is Not Fëanor.

But perhaps that doesn’t work, either. 

Perhaps in this world, because Fëanor and Fingolfin are similar, they end up being close. Perhaps Fëanor here does appreciate all of Fingolfin's hard work, and since this is Fëanor we are talking about, you know he would not be quiet about it.

Imagine Fëanor taking Maitimo to meet Baby Makalaurë and whispering, "I hope you will grow up to be great friends, like me and your Uncle Nolofinwë."

So Fingolfin is out. What about Finarfin? The third son, the last child, the one overshadowed by both his older brothers? 

What about Findis? Or Irimë?

Maybe it's Fëanor who dies trying to defend his masterpieces. 

Maybe it's Finwë who, mad with grief, stands before the Valar and swears a terrible oath.

(with many thanks to @wings-of-indigo)

[alanaisalive]

I've been busy, so it's been a minute since I blended a batch of wool for spinning. I've got almost too much wool to choose from since my last lap waste order.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alana Muir (@alanaisalive)

[anxiousangerball]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but

YOU DO NOT NEED TO START A NEW HOBBY!

STEP AWAY FROM THE TEXTILES!

YOU DON'T NEED MORE YARN!

THAT FABRIC IS NOT CALLING TO YOU! LEAVE IT ALONE!

[uwudonoodle]

Sometimes, I like to imagine the narrator of my fic is this guy, telling a riveting story by the fireside.

[circuscountdowns]

based on this suggestion by @arsonistmoth, just a silly thing, imagine how long it’d taken lamb to finish that

[milkweedman]

fiber arts tutorial links!

I’ve gotten quite a few asks about spinning, fiber prep, and dyeing, and since I’m utterly incapable of answering a question without writing an essay, they often turn into tutorials. I’ve compiled them here for easy perusal ! More will be added as I find and/or write them.

SPINNING

The basics of getting into drop spindles

A comprehensive guide on how to spin on drop spindles

Processing fleece on hair combs to get perfect hand combed top (a cheap fleece processing tool)

How to get your yarn off your spindle

How and why to block handspun yarn before using it

Niddy Noddy sizing

Blocking linen and cotton yarn

How to tell if your handspun yarn is over or undertwisted

Moving from park and draft spinning to suspended spinning

Debugging: roving twists and knots around the edges while spinning

Debugging: compressed roving

The visuals of 2 ply vs. 3 ply

Whittling supported spindles

Very short video-centric guide for supported spinning

FIBER PREP AND/OR DYEING

Steps of fleece processing, including the many methods and tools you can use

What prep to dye in

20 questions of natural dyeing

Dyeing with onion skin

How to clean a blending board

All about mordants

KNITTING

Knitting with chronic pain (more advice from others in notes)

[pigeonsparty]

Full Bloom

If you liked this video, consider buying me a coffee!

Link below~

[saltsparkle]

Atlantis dyed by Created by ElsieB. 4oz Targhee. 275 yards of 3 ply spun as a 2:4:8 fractal, with a mini skein of 2ply from leftover scraps.

It is supremely squishy!

[topnotchquark]

A multiple times motorsport world champion, often regarded as the best in their category, suddenly changing teams they had won over and over with, in a huge upset, to join a red colored Italian manufacturer, in 2025, to become teammates with a European pretty boy who grew up dreaming of the said red team. Am I talking about Marc to Ducati alongside Pecco or Lewis to Ferrari alongside Charles.

[pastelispunx]

Now, I'm about to say something sacrilegious. I'm thinking of painting my Ashford Elizabeth.

Her stain job is slightly off and it Bugs me. I don't use her as much as I should and I want her to be a jaw dropper.

Now I'm debating doing a paint job similar to those below:

First from here and next from here.

Now unfortunately I love magnolia home colors, but I get Ace Hardware to match it on non magnolia bases so I don't pay those people.

Color for base of the wheel???? I'd also stencil it with folk designs. Put a lil Mokosh sigil on there too somewhere. Just to really make it mine.

Now the poll: am I crazy to paint something I paid 800 for? Or do I yolo it and paint it bc it is mine and it will spark joy?

[exercise-of-trust]

ended up taking 2 months to finish but they're finally done! the roving is divine dyeworks oceana, 6oz of merino chain-plied to about 550 yards of light sport/heavy fingering. the streaks of green and purple ended up much less pronounced in the final yarn but honestly i'm fine with it; i like the more subtle heathered look.

[disgruntled-lifeform]

On the left we have yak and on the right baby alpaca and together they become the softest most annoying thing I've ever spun

[eriond]

You guys ever get too deep into your hobby?

Also titled I bought hand carders and I am now spinning yarn with all the yarn scraps & offcuts I've collected from knitting & crochet over the past few years. And I am having The Best Time

[tinyclove]

an overview of my first week of spinning! 1 on the left is my very first attempt, up to 7 on the right my most recent. I think you can see me start to get the hang of it around number 4!

when you zoom in you can see the first few are definitely a bit of a mess 😄 they're also very rope-like whereas my recent spins are much softer and yarn-like. it was fun to set them all out like this and see the improvement!

I also knit two swatches with the yarn I made, one from that 1st ball of yarn and one from the 7th. a big difference between them both not only in looks but in how they feel too!

I'm so excited to continue learning and improving!

[gher-bear]

My camel shawl, from start to finish!

[humphreyhippo]

20240207 - Inside the Turtle

The interior of a centre-pull 'turtle' ball from a turkish spindle after pulling out half the yarn.