Sometimes you’ve gotta grab it by the… ears

And if it doesn’t have ears, give it a pair.

Insert F-bomb here

For the past 3 days, I’ve been struggling to get a new spindle design to print. It seemed that every problem I’d fix would create two more problems. It got to the point that I ditched the design in favour of a simpler shape. The first print was nearly perfect. The shaft needed one tiny alteration. I still haven’t seen if the alteration worked. 8 failed prints, a broken printer part, and many hours of frustration later, I have a bag full of spindlegetti and a big snit.

Apparently the almost success was a fluke. No matter what I tried, the damned things wouldn’t stick to the printer long enough to get printed. The part that needs to stick is just too small to be sturdy. So I gave it ears. Thin flimsy semicircles that are going to be cut off, but they are big enough to lay flat against the bed while the spindle prints.

I had intended to have several spindles printed over the weekend so I could mail them today. Part of me feels like I wasted the entire weekend. Then again, I learned so much by coincidence that I can’t complain about it. I know LOTS of things that don’t work, so I might just be saving oodles of time in the future.

That’s the story I’m sticking with, anyway.

Plastic ramen! Yay!

 

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So many changes!

I have a habit of saying I’ll do something “soon” and then getting right on it never doing it. I’ve had every intention of putting up new posts and pictures – hundreds of times. Nope. Didn’t happen. I apologize. I’ve decided that I don’t do that any more. No really, that’s what I decided. It’s embarrassing.

So first and foremost, prototype #3 of a very frustrating spindle design in on the printer. Prototype #1 printed so-so and only spun so-so. Prototype #2 printed badly and broke before I could test it. Prototype #3 isn’t as cute as the first two, but I think I’ve resolved the yucky parts. It’s no work of art, but it should spin like a dream.

I’m really eager to get it perfected because The Naked Sheep Yarn & Fibre Emporium invited me to commission some spindles. I’m honoured and excited and every time something doesn’t come off the printer just the way I want it to, I feel crazy.

After the Saskatchewan Weavers and Spinners retreat last spring, I couldn’t concentrate because Spinny Girl was getting married and I couldn’t think of much else. The wedding was as beautiful as anybody who knows her would expect it to be. I adore Spinny Son-in-law. He’s a great guy.

So off to Cranbrook we went to see our daughter joined in actual matrimony. And we fell in love with it. It’s far enough away from the mountains that it doesn’t feel cold and dark, but has wonderful huge hills that beg to be climbed and sat upon. It’s small enough to walk across town, but big enough to have decent shopping resources. It’s not Regina. So we did what sane adults would never do.

We sold our house, packed up the stuff we couldn’t possibly leave behind into a moving truck, and headed west. No regrets, just possibilities.

To put it plainly, now Mr. Spinny is employed and I’m not. Not having the schedule is driving me crazy. So beginning last Thursday, I’m dedicating myself to my art as a full-time job.

There will be progress. And spindles. And more things that I’m not ready to talk about yet.

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