Keep Busy, Learn New Things, Support Small Businesses
As we try to stay sane while at self-quarantining, I’m sure we’re all looking for things to do. If you can keep busy while learning new things and supporting a small business that might be struggling right now, all the better! So I’m writing this post as an affiliate for Etsy and also to support Etsy’s Stand With Small initiative.
As you probably know from previous posts, I love buying things on Etsy. See my holiday gift guides from 2019, 2018, and 2017 as evidence. In this post, I’ll go over some of my most recent purchases and some of my all-time favorite purchases that I think you should check out. My Etsy buys are helping me to occupy my time at home and enjoy doing various creative endeavors.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a percentage if you make a purchase using these links. This won’t cost anything extra to you. See my privacy policy for more details.
Custom 3D Printed Bobbins from BlueCat3DPrinting
I’ve been meaning to post about this, but I recently got an antique spinning wheel. Say hello to my Canadian Production Wheel!
There was only one problem: my bobbin was all wonky and wouldn’t turn freely on the spindle. I wasn’t sure what to do about this until I discovered BlueCat3DPrinting. We tested out a few different prototypes for my wheel, and now I’ve got a bunch of bobbins ready to be filled.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being able to use my antique spinning wheel after being worried that I might not be able to get it up and running. Having multiple bobbins also means more options for plying and working on multiple projects at once. The more bobbins the merrier!
Milkweed Seeds from MonarchMilkweedSeeds
I’ve been wanting to grow some of my own fibers for spinning, and since I have extra time for gardening right now, so I thought I’d try it out this year. I saw an article in the magazine Spin Off about spinning milkweed fiber, and while I think we had some wild milkweed around the house last year, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, so I bought some milkweed seeds. It also helps the monarch butterfly population to plant milkweed, since it’s the only plant they can lay their eggs on.
I had to “vernalize” the seeds by placing them in the fridge to make them think they’ve been through the winter, but they’re almost ready to come out and be planted.
While I was at it, I bought a fiber seed sampler with flax, cotton, and stinging nettles. So far, I’ve only had luck with the flax seeds, but they’re doing nicely, and flax was one of the seeds I was most excited to try. New England has a long history of fiber production, including flax in particular, so I figure it will do well in my garden.
Ramie Fiber from Beesybee
If I can’t get the nettle seeds to sprout, which would be kind of strange, since they’re considered invasive in a lot of places, I figured I could get the next best thing: nettle fiber that someone else has grown. Ramie is a type of Chinese nettle, and you can buy it plain or dyed.
It also has a long history, dating back thousands of years. The book Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber details the history of nettle fiber usage. Some Egyptian archaeological finds that were long thought to be linen were actually made of nettles! And there are a lot of folk tales and myths about spinning nettles, usually setting it up as an impossible task, since nettles are so prickly, but if you collect them carefully and soak them, they turn into a nice fiber.
So if you buy some ramie fiber to spin, you can feel like you’re magical witch straight out of a fairy tale.
Wool Sampler from Woolgatherings
I’ve been trying out a bunch of different types of wool from this sampler I bought with 1 oz each of 30 different types of sheep’s wool. Sometimes when I’m looking at sellers’ beautifully dyed and blended fibers on Etsy, if I’m not familiar with the type of wool, I hesitate to buy it. So I thought it would be a good idea to buy a sampler like this so I could become familiar with different types of wool. This particular sampler isn’t for sale anymore, but there are similar ones here and here.
Making little squares on a pin loom is so much fun! They weave up quickly, you don’t need a lot of yarn, and you make a little sample to see what your yarn will look and feel like before committing to weaving a bigger piece. Or you can just use your little squares to make something fun like a bag!
I’ve been using this 2” x 2” pin loom to make samples of all of my types of wool that I mentioned above, so I’ll have an easy way to remember what each type of wool is like.
When I wrote my 2019 Etsy gift guide, this item was out of stock, and I was so sad! It’s one of my favorite items that I’ve gotten on Etsy. I love this historical pocket kit, and although I hadn’t done a lot of hand embroidery before, I really enjoyed making it. The design isn’t too complicated for a beginner, but it has enough going on for an advanced embroiderer, too.
When I wrote my holiday gift guide, this embroidery kit was out of stock as well, but it’s back, too! This is one of the most popular embroidery kits on Etsy, and I can see why. I love the pattern, colors, and overall design of it. It’s beginner-friendly, and you end up with a lovely piece to hang on your wall. I’m hoping to decorate a whole wall with embroidered designs at some point.
3D Printed Spindle from TurtleMade
I kind of learned to spin backward. I started with a wheel and then went back to learn on a drop spindle. There’s something satisfying about learning how to do a task in different ways, and while spinning wheels have been around for a few hundred years, drop spindles go back thousands of years.
A drop spindle is a small spinning tool you can take pretty much anywhere (once you can go out again). It gives you a fun link to the past, and it allows you to practice your craft at a slower, more leisurely pace. I like using a Turkish spindle because it comes apart for easier storage, and when you wind your yarn onto the spindle, it makes a center-pull ball (or turtle).
Turkish spindles from TurtleMade come in different sizes and colors. Mine has a rainbow-y assortment of colors!
Want More Awesome Etsy Finds?
See the StandWithSmall Editors Picks’ Page for a curated collection of fun products that support small-time sellers on Etsy.
And here’s a curated favorites page with all of the items I mentioned in this post.
