The Spindle and the Anvil

08/29/2026

So natural dyeing is a lot of waiting, my induction stove tops are a game changer. So the madder temp under 80 C for an hour then left in the pot to cool down overtime. Weld yellow about the same. Stir gentle about every 10 minutes. This is for wool. Bluefaced Leinster Ontario grown wool. Will post colours some time tomorrow. Indigo will be on Tuesday. Indigo is magic

08/29/2026

Today's project is scented jar candles. I'm aiming for bright colours and pleasant scents, but not too strong, including pumpkin spice, lavender, coconut nectarine, campfire smoke, lemon spritzer, and a few others. I hope people like them.

08/29/2026

So mordent is completed now on to soaking my Weld and first heating of my madder. Tomorrow final heating of the madder and heating of the weld. Then putting the indigo dye together. So the weld has to soak overnight then is heated to extract the colour. The madder needs to be heated twice to get the best of the dye.

08/23/2026

So the start of the natural dyeing process, not glamorous, but important. First we scour the yarn, because in most spinning processes they can add a little oil to make the fibre move smoothly through the process. This oil needs to be removed so that the wool can absorb all the lovely natural dye. The other picture is my large container of weld dye, stems and leaves.

07/22/2026

Today's job was tapers ... 2 dozen pairs of regular tapers and 18 pairs of slim tapers.
Last year at HPPD I had some ladies ask if I made slim beeswax tapers ... I had to tell them no, so I decided to give them a try this year.

07/19/2026

https://youtu.be/1amZ30fy6ng?si=xSXc9ht6jJR1wTnc

OUR SECOND VIDEO !!!
Today we tackle tapers. The video is a bit long but I tried to make it as informative as possible. Give it a looksie and feel free to leave a comment (positive I hope).

Today we're making tapers.

07/16/2026

https://youtu.be/kk89KvJGPbI?feature=shared

I've been thinking of making video posts about what we do at the Spindle and the Anvil so I've set up a Spindle and Anvil channel on YouTube. Here's the first video ... I'm not experienced with video editing so it's kinda rough, but so am I.
Hope you enjoy it and feel free to follow us.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

01/31/2026

Hi folks.
I'd like to thank all the folks who have chosen to follow our page lately, even though not much has been going on lately due to life, full-time career and sickness. But retirement is in sight (one year to go) and hopefully I'll be in the shop more.
Keep well.
Keep warm.
Keep safe.

01/27/2026

We've just reached 100 followers! Thank you for continuing support. We could never have made it without each one of you. 😊

01/01/2026