In Great Britain there lives a lady who makes amazing spindles: Enid Ashcroft. She offers both Turkish and supported spindles, and when she updates her shop, the spindles are usually gone very quickly. I managed to buy a Midi from her (she offers different sizes: Maxi, Midi, Mini, Midge, SuperMidge – and recently the Mindi was added) in spalted beech. Very beautiful spindle, quite light for its size, and I really enjoyed spinning on it.
So, when there was another update with some Mini’s in it, I couldn’t resist… I bought two Mini’s, one in Mopane/Wengé and one in Yew/Pink Ivory. The first weighs 24 grams, the second 15. A big difference, which has to do with the density of the woods. I recently learned that in general the darker the wood, the heavier it is.
These spindles are amazing! They look so polished and well-finished. The wood seems to glow from the inside out!
I also bought another Mini, in a quick update, because it was so special. Enid called it a Laceweight Mini, it weighs only 7 grams and is made of spalted beech, just like my Midi. It is actually the lightest spindle I have, even lighter than the Riley Petite, which is 10 grams and a whole lot smaller…
For size reference, here’s a picture of the Mini and Midi together:
They look pretty together!
And then, when I checked the shop, just passing by, there was an update going on which was not announced. A series of turks were added, including some Midges! I didn’t have a Midge yet, and imagine my joy when I saw a snakewood Midge appear! Of course I purchased it immediately, I love snakewood!
It arrived and it’s so beautiful! It glows… and the spindle spins perfectly, of course!
However, when I inspected the spindle better, I noticed some damage on one of the arms, next to the shaft. I contacted Enid about it, and she asked me to send it back to her, because snakewood can be brittle and there might be a real bad spot in the wood there… Oh no!
I sent her the spindle, and it arrived yesterday, and today I already got a message from Enid that it has been repaired and she will send it to me asap! Phew! I was so in love with this one, I hardly could send it away, but fortunately, it has been fixed and will probably be back home next week!