Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

Our home was burglarized January 12. Among the items lost were our computers and other tech equipment, nearly ever piece of jewelry I've ever owned (save the three pieces I was wearing that day, two sets that were in plain sight but somehow missed, and one necklace I had bought on vacation on Orcas Island the week before but not yet put away), and several beloved decorative boxes that I kept my everyday jewelry in. One of those boxes I had purchased while I lived in Kyiv, Ukraine -- a stunning hinged-lid box purchased at the little shop in the base of St. Sophia Cathedral that featured the highest quality delicate paint work of a courting scene. I adored that box.

When I saw this Golding spindle, I fell in love.

Its exquisite inset features a domestic handspinning scene. It combines my love of Russian decorative painting with my love of fiber arts -- and fiber tools. And it's not likely to be targeted should we be burglarized again (my spindles did survive the burglary this time!). It's not the same as my favorite, now-gone jewelry box, but it makes me very happy. The painting style is very similar to my box. I mentioned to Joseph that I would like something like this for Valentine's Day... and he presented it shortly after breakfast yesterday morning.

"Handspindling by Candlelight"
2-3/4" Walnut Whorl
Rare Vintage Handpainted Russian Inset
Brass Ring
1.4 oz
Golding Fiber Tools
from the Vintage and Decorative RingSpindle collection
Spindle of the Week posted 2-1-10

Love the brass ring!


Before I could justify starting a new spinning project, I had another WIP to finish. In fact, I was in the process of binding it off when Joseph gave me the spindle, so I just needed to do that and weave in the ends. You can imagine how long and grueling that project seemed with my gorgeous Golding sitting there, so politely, just waiting...