Well, Christmas is coming, and I've been busy. I finally got all my cards made up and mailed out (I made them myself with some rubber stamping stuff lent to me by a good friend) and I got a good start on my mother-in-law's braided rug. That's about all I have left to do, besides getting/decorating a tree and picking up a few gift certificates.

I got DH's lathe tools sharpened, and we're slowly figuring out the best way to hold the whorl on the lathe so that I can turn it. I've made a few mistakes, trashed a couple of whorls, but I have come up with a couple of new spindles that look and work well. Here's a picture of the two of them from the top:



The one on the left is oak, and is 1.4 oz. The one on the right is cherry, 1.2 oz. Both are about the same size as the pine spindle (approx. 2-3/4" whorl, 9-3/4" shaft). Both are very pretty, and I'm enjoying learning how to make these, but I really, really love the cherry whorl!

Here's a picture of the turnings from the bottom side of the whorl. Note the turnings on the end of the shafts! I'm very proud of those, and hope to do my own bobbin lace bobbins eventually.