{"id":8261,"date":"2022-07-09T07:34:55","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T05:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=8261"},"modified":"2022-07-09T07:34:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-09T05:34:58","slug":"course-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/course-prep\/","title":{"rendered":"Course prep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tomorrow I am going to S\u00e4tergl\u00e4ntan craft education centre to teach a five-day course I call A spindle a day. The course is fully booked and I need to bring four spindle types for twelve students plus tools and wool. On the train. Today’s post is all about course prep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started teaching supported spindle spinning a few years ago I was frustrated by the lack of supported spindles in Sweden and the inconvenience of ordering spindles from overseas. I figured that if my students would have to wait three weeks for a spindle once they came back from the course they would have forgotten all they had learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bj\u00f6rn Peck woodworking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My solution was to find a professional wood turner here in Sweden and convince them to make the spindles for me. Lucky for me I found the best one, Bj\u00f6rn Peck<\/a>. Before he would do anything he wanted me to show him how I spin with it. He said that he couldn’t make a tool without knowing how it was supposed to be used. I showed him and explained what features I wished for and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made a few prototypes and just a few months after our first meeting he sent me the premiere batch for a five-day course in supported spindle spinning at S\u00e4tergl\u00e4ntan craft education center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bj\u00f6rn Peck, professional wood turner and spindle maker. Photo by Dan Waltin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was back in 2018. Since then he has developed his technique after feedback from my students. Today he has eager and happy customers all over the world and makes the most exquisite supported spindles in local Swedish woods. Bj\u00f6rn’s spindles are well worth waiting for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read more about Bj\u00f6rn and his work here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cooperation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am so happy and proud of the cooperation I have with Bj\u00f6rn. He makes spindles for my courses so that my students can walk home with a high quality spindle made by a professional wood turner and local woods. I listen to my students’ feedback about the spindles and pass it on to Bj\u00f6rn, so he can improve them even further. We are both winners in this cooperation. I get happy students who can continue their spinning journey after the class with a professionally made tool. Bj\u00f6rn gets his spindles sold to happy customers. There is, however, no money exchanged between us. <\/em>He does put me first in line though, when I have a course coming up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spindle delivery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The other day Bj\u00f6rn came by with a fresh batch of supported spindles (and a batch of floor supported spindles). He makes them so well and it’s always a joy and privilege to be able to teach with his spindles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bj\u00f6rn Peck came by with a batch of fresh supported spindles of exquisite quality.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bj\u00f6rn does his best to make the spindles transportable, especially the floor spindles, which have detachable whorls. But there is still always a risk of causing damage to the spindles during the transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spindle cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time as I started my cooperation with Bj\u00f6rn I came up with the idea of making spindle cases. Ullkontoret<\/a>, a Swedish wool washing service, sells needle punch felt by the meter. The felt is made by Swedish wool, mostly Gotland. I saw the potential in the felt and made a prototype of a spindle case that I sold on my in-person courses. Since then I have developed the design to make it more sturdy, practical and easy to make. You can read about one of my first batches here<\/a> (the link goes to a post from 2019 and the giveaway it refers to is long gone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Twelve finished spindle cases ready for a spinning course!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The case is lined with eBayed upholstery fabric for some sturdiness and to avoid getting the spinning fiber stuck in the inner walls of the wool material. All the yarn in the seams are my handspun and I have sewn all seams by hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Upholstery fabric with decadent flower prints as lining.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the first batches I made the holding strap and the strap that holds the lid to the case in the same needle punch felt material as the tube, but later I realized the great potential of backstrap woven bands for this purpose instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The strap almost finished (left) and finished (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have been sewing the spindle cases in the evenings of the past month or two. I sew them in batches \u2013 six lid straps and six holding straps onto the tube rectangle. Six linings onto the inside of the tube rectangle. And so on. They are quite nice to sew, the needle punch felt is warm and cozy in my hands and I enjoy feeling all the wool through the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, sewing them takes a lot of time and therefore I only sell the cases to students at my in-person courses. Giveaways have occurred, though, and may occur again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Packing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have sort of a problem at the moment \u2013 I need to get four spindle types (suspended, supported, floor supported and in-hand) plus other equipment for twelve people to S\u00e4tergl\u00e4ntan by train. I have done it before, only not with twelve students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spindle cases will be the perfect nests for the spindles on the journey to S\u00e4tergl\u00e4ntan. One spindle case can house two reasonably sized spindles and one puck. Lots of shoe boxes for floor spindle pucks, whorls, cards, combs and other equipment. And thank the goddesses for vacuum bags for wool. All of this will go into a suitcase, my personal stuff in a backpack and the floor spindle shafts will be sleeping cozily in the yoga mat. I may take a taxi to the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A rowan Bj\u00f6rn Peck supported spindle and bowl. I call it my cow spindle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other day I test packed and worked my way through three sizes of suitcases before I found one that would swallow all the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And oh, I bought myself a spindle from Bj\u00f6rn too. A beautiful and unique rowan spindle that reminds me of a cow. I call her Rosa, a common name in Sweden for cows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can find me in several social media:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n