Ariadne’s Clew chronicles one woman’s obsession with women in the ancient world and fiber arts.
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Convergence Came to New Orleans and All I Got Was This Lovely Fleece
In July, I became aware that a really awesome not only fiber arts but weaving conference (Convergence) was coming to New Orleans. Within tantalizing reach! Or so I thought. I was so excited! Fiber…
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A Twist and a Pop
No, I’m not talking about my knees, but I could be. Nope, I’ve started spinning Athena’s double-coated Shetland slivers into a lace-ish single. That’s the twist (and it is quite twisty). The pop is…
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Spinning with a Hand Distaff and Drop Spindle
Sunday I started making a floor distaff, but a big stick takes longer to shape and smooth (however minimally) than a small stick, so today I made a hand distaff. Of course, I immediately…
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Athena’s Double-Coated Shetland Fleece
Bought on Etsy nearly a year ago (August 23, 2025), Athena’s grey fleece arrived a week later with a bit more VM than expected and weighing in at about 3 pounds. Characteristic of double-coated…
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Making a Floor Distaff
And by “making” a distaff, I mean picking up a fortuitously shaped fallen branch from the yard, chopping some bits off, and trying to get the bark off without woodworking tools or skills. It…
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Thwarted Again
The floor loom restoration project has been postponed due to Leclerc’s summer break, so I decided to buy yet another Gulf Coast Native fleece from a distributor that is without a doubt using the…
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Aura: Spinning Fate
The Aura of Destiny Last year, I got a Majacraft Aura to replace my Schacht Ladybug, which was good to me, but I had grown frustrated trying to spin thicker yarns with its metal hook…
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Old and New Projects
Last Year’s First Raw Fleece (Elektra!) So, I finally finished spinning Elektra’s 2025 fleece. From the whole fleece weighing in at 32.9 oz., I managed to get 18.6 oz. of finished yarn. Random leftover…
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Alpaca ≠ Wool
Work was frustrating enough today that I decided to take a “lunch break” and go outside in the 115-degree-heat-index-tropical-storm-on-the-horizon weather to wash some of the alpaca fleece I recently acquired from a local source…
