Cynthia Wood Spinner

Name: Cynthia Wood Spinner
Address: 1601 Falling Rock Drive, Amherst, VA, 24521, US
Telephone: +14342828461

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United States
Amherst, VA
Cynthia Wood Spinner

I am Cynthia D. Haney, artisan wood turner. I make tools for the fiber arts including crochet hooks,

06/09/2026

Tip Tuesday

Keep a sample of your project.

This applies to any fiber craft. Spinning is always on my mind. Saving something as simple as letting the single ply on itself and breaking it off to keep. This lets you have a comparison for further spinning. It gives you a guide on balanced twist when you eventually ply. It provides a before example when you wash the skein.

You could take the tag for the fiber, wrap some singles around it, and your ply back sample. Then stick a bit of the fiber to it. That will give you all the parts and the source information.

You certainly can get fancier... but any sample is much better than none.

06/08/2026

Mail Monday

A Beginner Friendly Branch size Top Whorl Drop Spindle found its home. I turned the whorl from Cherry, shaft from Maple, and shaped the hook from Bronze. I love making tools that inspire spinners to pick them up and spin. As functional as pretty giving a long duration spin for maximum enjoyment.

06/06/2026

I remembered to take a progress photo in my woodshop!

I turned all these shafts for my current batch of Branch size Top Whorl Drop Spindles. Seven are Maple and one Cherry.

I start with a board from my local lumber yard. Then select the best grain for shafts. I rip the board into sticks. Cut them to length becoming shaft blanks. All before I can start turning. Then I mount a blank on my lathe and shape the shaft. Everything I make is from natural solid wood.

Next up turning whorls to go on the shafts.

FYI I will be at the craft in tomorrow, Sunday the 7th. If you want to see a particular tool, please let me know asap. I have an assortment of Top Whorl Drop Spindles packed.

06/05/2026

Catching up plying my handspun yarn.

I spun the singles from the fold supported long draw with a Branch size Bottom Whorl Spindle I made. Then I wound two plying balls. I plied the two singles together still supported last week. I used a Trunk size Bottom Whorl Spindle to hold the whole skein. The fiber is Corriedale top from Bede Sisters. It was a delight to spin from the fold. It started a vivid pink color. All the air trapped in the soft fuzzy yarn made the color less intense. The photo washed it out too far, I will try for a better photo once I wash the skein. Spindle is all Maple for visual comparison. Bede Sisters

06/04/2026

Tool Thursday Nostepinne

A Nostepinne is used to wind a center feed ball of yarn. I make mine to feel wonderful in your hand. Winding a ball on a Nostepinne is an incredibly relaxing tactile experience. It also provides gentle hand exercise as you turn the Nostepinne.

To learn more see the Nostepinne Tutorial in the How To section of my website. To get your own check out the Nostepinne under Yarn Tools in my webstore. Link in bio. Same as my business name CynthiaWoodSpinner.com

06/03/2026

Mail Monday joins Wood Wednesday this week. First of the month accounting and lathe time has delayed my posting.

This is a Beginner Friendly Branch size Top Whorl Drop Spindle I made, it found a home.

I turned the whorl from Black Walnut and the shaft from Maple. I love this combination of native hardwoods. The rich dark Black Walnut is beautiful in an obvious way. The pale Maple provides great contrast, focus on shape, and pretty grain when you look close enough.
Both woods are a dream to turn.
The Maple is dense with closed pores. I get mesmerized watching ribbons of shavings come from my gouge at the lathe. Fortunately I turn enough 1/4" diameter spindle shafts that I know when to make my self stop and measure.
Black Walnut is less dense than the Maple I use for shafts, but still a dense wood. The pores are open creating a distinctive fine pattern. End grain shows round pore openings. While the face grain has long straight pores with oval ends. As a result the shaving ribbons do not hold together long, being naturally perforated. My dust collector and respirator mask filter well but I miss the lingering distinctive walnut smell.

05/29/2026

Multiple views of my full shelves. I made these shelves to use in my booth at festivals. I set it up behind my desk until October when I need it for the booth again. I managed to fit almost my whole webstore on the shelves. Now I have tools in reach to answer questions and show on Zoom meetings.

Which one do you want me to feature in my posts next week?

05/28/2026

Tool Thursday: Niddy-noddy

A Niddy-Noddy is used to wind big loops of yarn forming a skein, hank. This allows you to estimate yarn length and secure it against tangles prior to washing or dyeing. Cynthia makes three sizes of Niddy-Noddy. The full size which makes a 2 yard skein (two yards per wrap). Sample size for an 18″, half yard, skein (two wraps per yard). Mini size for a 12″ skein (three wraps per yard).

First photo a full size 2 yard Niddy-noddy in Tulip Poplar.
Second photo a sample size 18" Niddy-noddy in Curly Ash and Black Walnut.
Third photo a mini 12" Niddy-noddy in Black Walnut

I have a how to use a niddy-noddy video on my website along with these niddy-noddies in my webstore.

05/27/2026

Wood Wednesday
Sycamore

Wood from a Sycamore tree Platanus occidentalis one of my favorite turning woods. The wood varies in color from cream to pale pink to a rare darker pinkish brown. Sycamore wood does not change color over time. The interesting patterns in the grain are the best feature. It grows in the Eastern half of the US. A large tree found throughout the forest, most noticeable along rivers. It is easy to recognize by the stark white bark exposed by the thin tan bark peeling. You could confuse the leaf with Maple though it lacks the deep cuts between the tips.

I used Sycamore for the arms of this sample size niddy-noddy photo 1 and the whorl of the twig size top whorl drop spindle photo 2. You can see the interesting grain on the arm of the niddy-noddy closest to the handle. The 'normal' grain pattern is on the underside of the upper arm. Both arms are turned from the same piece, you are just seeing two different orientations. With the niddy-noddy in your hand you can see both grain patterns on both arms. I used Cherry for the body and handle. Cherry darkens with age and compliments the darker shade in the Sycamore grain beautifully.

In the spindle the tiny Twig size whorl has a hint of the interesting grain on the top of the whorl, facing you. I used a Maple shaft on this spindle to compliment the lighter 'background' part of the Sycamore grain.

Both tools and others I turned from Sycamore are in my webstore.

05/26/2026

Tip Tuesday
A spindle stops and spins backwards immediately. When the yarn is too thick for that weight spindle.

For example my tiny Twig Size Top Whorl Drop Spindles average 1/4 oz. total weight. They spin very thin yarn, thread like thickness, very easily. Try to spin a sock thickness single and the spindle will stop very quickly.

I start my Beginner Friendly spindles at 3/4 oz. in my Branch size so that they will spin with a thicker yarn. Any spindle lighter than 3/4 oz. does not meet my beginner friendly criteria.

I guide spinners to a heavier spindle when they want chunky, bulky type yarns. My large Trunk size get up to around 3 oz. plenty heavy for those needs.

What about spinning thin on a heavy spindle? Eventually you risk the spindle weight breaking the fibers and your yarn. More common is to accidently put too much twist into thin yarn, also breaking it.

The spindle fights friction and yarn resistance when spinning supported. So weight has more to do with how frequently you need to flick the spindle to keep it spinning.

Address

1601 Falling Rock Drive
Amherst, VA
24521

Telephone

+14342828461

Website

https://CynthiaWoodSpinner.com/

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