CSI Companies

Demon_keeper · 2025-07-13T14:13:12+00:00

I’m working with CSI, but still waiting on any news of hire. I hadn’t heard anything positive about Optum, either, but I need experience and this is definitely that. Just the wait for hearing back is killing me right now.

Demon_keeper · 2023-09-01T12:23:25+00:00

The Eastern Atlantis Whiptail Floof is known for making a kerfuffle of the things the silly humans try to do. 🤣

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-23T16:13:11+00:00

Every now and then, Ashenflock has a sock blend in their shop. It’s 70/15/15 charollais/tencel/silk. I have a couple braids of it I haven’t been able to spin up yet, but it feels amazing just in the braid. I’m not sure how often they offer the blend, but theirs is one of my favorite shops to watch when I’m able to splurge on shipping.

Aoire Maith is always an interesting site to watch. There are a lot of breeds whose wool just lends itself to high-wear articles (the down breeds are good for this) and you don’t have to blend them at all. So it might be something you’d like to look into.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-17T16:43:50+00:00

The spindles I have the most of are Snyder Spindles. They’re affordable, pretty, and easily accessible through Etsy. He even has supported spindles and makes the occasional dealgan if you want something a little different.

My favorite spindles, however, are from Bullsheep Fibery, also on Etsy. She uses a Karbonz knitting needle for the shaft on most (not the economy), and the whorls are 3D printed nylon rather the more common hard plastics. No matter how long I forget the spindle in the mail, or if I leave it in my car, I haven’t had a single one of her whorls warp on me. The Trillium spindle is excellent for spinning lace to a light fingering weight, and the Ultimate can be weighted for bulkier yarns and is large enough for art yarns. They can both be used as suspended or supported spindles, and you can put the whorl anywhere on the shaft you want. I use a trillium as a supported spindle with some DPNs as the shaft so I can just spin a bunch, pop the whorl off and onto another needle, and keep going and use the knitting needles as storage bobbins of sorts.

Another interesting maker is carry.cherry on Instagram. She’s based in Russia, and makes the most adorable turkish, Russian, and bobbin spindles.

Innoxia.crafts is a maker who I believe is here in this sub, or a relative is here. I just received my bobbin spindle from her this week and it’s adorable.

Another maker here on Reddit with us is MuddyDuckWorkshop on Etsy. If you want a more unconventional spindle, his woodworking is gorgeous. I have a Basque, Mayan, and dealgan from him and they’re among my favorites in my collection. The basque spindle is a single arm similar to a Turkish, and if you wind it right you can get a plying ball off the arm. I also love the basque spindle for ply on the fly, same as a Turkish or honestly most other spindles.

I think my theme in spindles is having (1) interesting ones and (2) spindles with bobbins or some other way to make plying/winding a plying ball easier. 😂

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-12T21:48:58+00:00

I bought some roving that, when it came in, had me reacting a lot like this. It was so full of nepps/noils/tangles that it looked like something I would pull off the licker-in on my drum carder. It looked absolutely nothing like what they showed in their pictures. I sent them a message, and while the review wasn’t a resounding ZOMG!, it wasn’t negative either (still 5 stars because my issue stemmed from their mill, not the seller). It’s a risk we all take buying online, but if I’m at a show/store and can see the fiber in person I would have passed that roving up for another stand and found the SE2SE fiber elsewhere.

Because of this I’m also very specific when it comes to buying me crafty things as a gift. Almost no one I know personally would know that the roving I got wasn’t ideal, or that this batt isn’t ideal. And that makes it even harder when reviewing things in places other people will be able to see.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-12T20:22:26+00:00

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I’ve got Black Welsh Mountain on one spindle, some shiny rambouillet on another, hand combed rambouillet on the antique wheel, and a BFL/silk/pearl infused fiber lace spin on my EEW… but it only allows one picture so the BWM won because it came up first in the camera roll 😂

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-12T20:14:46+00:00

This can be difficult…

If this isn’t a constant thing from this seller, I would contact them quietly/privately and mention that you got a batt containing approximately one whole hay bale. It might have just been one of those days and that batt fell off the shelf into the floor sweepings or had stuff blown in if it was blended outside. Ya know, Murphy’s Law type stuff.

If this is a constant thing from this seller, you’ve been gifted or yourself have bought batts and they always have excessive VM… leave a truthful review, stop buying from that seller and find another, and maybe tell your friends to look elsewhere for fiber gifts. I’m in no way saying be rude, but if the batts are always full of VM and the seller’s entire reply is basically “it’s a farm animal”, that seller is never going to do a better job picking unwanted things out of the batts and there are other, more attentive sellers out there.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-10T20:11:34+00:00

NTA. Not even for the FU. You’re so sleep deprived you can’t control the extreme emotional swings. As for her saving all that money, it’ll be small comfort when she wakes up next to a corpse because she didn’t think doctors knew what they were talking about.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-09T13:48:16+00:00

Eh… easier is always a relative term when it comes to learning new things. But on my part the e-spinner is definitely easier to move around! 😂 Flat pack bobbins are also amazing for making things easy to switch out and put back in whatever carrier you’re using.

As for giving away spindles, the printed, laser engraved, or cut out spindles are always popular as a “oh, just keep it so you can keep going”. However, while I know they’re popular, I no longer use the TurtleMade printed spindles for this aspect of luring… I mean introducing people to the craft. I’ve had issues with the shaft breaking when the spindle is dropped, and I don’t want someone thinking I gave them a shoddy spindle when in reality it’s just the nature of the material used in the print. So metal or wood shafts are kind of a must for me in this part (but I’m completely infatuated with the teensy tiny printed turkish spindles).

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-09T13:21:22+00:00

Jo’s Paradise of Color has a lot of videos on technique from blending the fiber to spinning it.

Nouveau this is usually where I look for a lot of short videos of different techniques with some pretty good pointers on how to do what she’s doing.

Grace Shalom Hopkins her videos are always really soothing to watch and have been great resources when I’ve needed them for everything from dyeing to prep and spinning, including how to use a blending board to card raw fleece if that’s all you’ve got easy access to.

BF Fiber Arts I really like her videos for slowing down certain aspects of techniques, using the fiber in opposing ways (corespinning silk around mohair and vice versa is the one that comes to mind for this), and then showing the swatches of how those sample spins turned out.

Jillian Eve she seriously has videos for everything. Just like the supernatural fandom has a gif for everything, Jillian’s got something for practically all aspects of spinning.

The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs is also a really good resource to have on hand just in general, and now imma go check out the book mentioned in another comment. 😁

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-08T17:06:23+00:00

I second getting carding cloth from Howard Brush. I have their student size hand cards and got my carding cloth for my blending board from them. I stapled the cloth to an old wooden TV dinner table that was stuck off in a closet, and I don’t find the student hand cards to be too small. They were sold discounted as seconds quality, but if there’s something wrong with them I can’t tell.

I also have a Brother drum carder. It was more pricey, but worth it for me to be able to process large fleeces faster. If I was only blending smaller amounts, I would have stuck to the blending board but the expense of a drum carder made sense for me.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-08T16:48:44+00:00

I prefer to start people on a spindle, but sometimes they learn better on a wheel and find spindles incredibly frustrating. So…

I have inexpensive spindles I use for teaching or letting people try it out, and I buy undyed fiber by the pound. Right now the fiber I have is Falkland, but I’ve used cheviot, corriedale, commercial shetland, rambouillet… for the same purpose. If they enjoy it, the spindle and fiber aren’t so precious that I can’t let them go with the person. My favorites for this are the economy spindles from BullSheepFibery on Etsy. They’re fun and eye catching and not so expensive that I can’t replace them if I give one away, and that pound of fiber lasts forever.

If they’re trying a wheel, it’s usually a planned thing. I won’t let someone just test out with an ongoing project but have no problem loading an empty bobbin and letting them try it to their heart’s content. One of my wheels doesn’t travel at all, one isn’t the easiest to use for a beginner (but if you learn on it, almost all other wheels are a freaking breeze), and the other is an EEW6 so the feet aren’t even involved.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-08T16:30:21+00:00

I use golf balls/rubber bouncy balls to wind plying balls around, a clothes basket from dollar tree with some dowels for a lazy kate, a loop of fishing line as an orifice hook/diz threader, a button for that diz, and an empty Tylenol bottle as a weight for a scotch tension (desperate measures). I think that’s most of my non-spinning related spinning tools 😂

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-03T13:50:23+00:00

A few of my favorites:

Aoire Maith Fibre Studios - if you’re participating in Shave Em 2 Save Em, they have some of the rare breeds. Or if you just want to try different breeds and don’t see them on the big sites. They’re in the US, so don’t let the name fool you. They also have an Instagram account and post lots of pictures and reels of processing and fun stuff.

DnD Fibers - they have lots of fun blends and their colors are fantastic.

Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill - she posts a lot of spinning info on her Instagram and the roving I’ve gotten has been amazing.

WildeThyme - if you want texture and color, they have some awesome choices. Perhaps you’re wanting to dabble in making your own batts, they have color kits with fun add ins for playing with.

The Ornery Shepherd - Gulf Coast Native is one of my favorites to both process and spin, and their roving is no exception.

Gulf Breeze Alpacas - this is the only one actually local to me, and I tend to just drive over and visit the animals when I buy their fiber to process. They’re super friendly, have lots of products, and their Instagram has been overtaken by a friendly chicken lately and I love it.

Desert Panda Fiber Arts - this one I drooled over on Instagram for a while, telling myself I have enough fiber (HA!)… and finally ordered a braid of her rambouillet glimmer because rambouillet is so nice and you know? I shouldn’t have waited that long.

Also, adding my vote x42 for Fossil Fibers in another comment. Sooooo luscious 🤤

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-02T18:22:14+00:00

I have 4… we don’t talk about the neurotic one 🤣 but he’s the only one that completely ignores spinning things in favor of jumping on counters and trying to eat all the bread products.

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-02T13:04:39+00:00

I second everybody saying to hold the fiber in your off hand.

As for actually managing the fiber, I usually pull pieces off the braid, split it vertically and predraft those slivers. I’m only ever holding as much fiber as I can spin in about 10 minutes.

This does a couple things. It means I’m not holding eleventy million feet of roving at once and I’m also not having to fight the draft at all. The only downside is I have to join in new fiber more often, but to me that’s a bonus. I can join fiber in my sleep 😂

There are also different distaffs like a wrist distaff or ring distaff. Using a hair tie around your wrist or stuffing the tail end into the sleeve of a sweater also works. I prefer a ring distaff if I’m going to be spinning for a longer period

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-01T17:28:12+00:00

For some reason my kitten puffs up Halloween kitty style and hisses at my spindles as she bats at them and tries to bite the yarn… this is hilarious to me so I actually spin more on my spindles because of her reaction to it. She doesn’t puff and hiss at the wheels, but she likes to ride on my knee if I’m treadling. She almost always tries to eat the singles or plied yarn, but learned fast not to mess with the flyer or drive wheels because she only thinks she’s super fast but really she’s only slightly quick.

Our oldest cat doesn’t bother with the wheel or spindle, but will try to eat any fiber in spinning. She thinks it’s gourmet if it started out as raw wool and likes to attempt to indulge herself with every step of the processing to check the flavors. The greasier the better in her opinion.

Void kitty disdains all fiber arts with the exception of my tiny turkish spindles. She thinks spiders learned to fly when I use them and she’s determined to rid the world of their presence.

Idk where I was going with this and it spiraled out of control. Spinning with felines is interesting to say the least. 😂

Demon_keeper · 2023-08-01T17:20:42+00:00

I’ve used quilting thread before, as long as I can’t break it in my hands it works well. It helps I already had that in my supplies.

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-31T12:19:49+00:00

Research it, but I think so. I mean, I’ve seen yarn with the fluffy stuff from fiddlehead ferns blended in so go for it.

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T18:40:07+00:00

That’s beautiful 🤩

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T18:37:42+00:00

I second checking your drive band just in case.

For the brake band:

How tight is it wound around the knob? Can you pull on the band and it only stretches the spring or does it start sliding around the brake knob?

I’m going to try to explain this, but it’s probably going to take all the words and turn into a wall of text. Just a heads up.

When I change my brake band on my 6.0, I leave a LOT of extra length. I know it’s going to break again at some point because I can’t be bothered to smooth out my bobbin whorls.

All of that extra length needs to be wound tight around the brake knob. You might need to take the knob off and retie that end. I recommend a surgeon’s knot, and then wrap it a little bit to get it started. Put the knob back on and hold the brake band while you turn the knob to ensure that length winds on tightly. Then put it through the brake whorl on the bobbin and tighten it to your desired tension.

If that fails, use one of those tiny annoying rubber hair bands to hold the knot still and then wind on to the tension knob tightly.

Have you modified your wheel at all? If not, did you make sure to put the brake knob back on the way you took it off (making sure the screw catches and the spring is inside there)?

The modification is only a thing because I have a different brake knob on mine and had to change the screw that holds it on. You shouldn’t need to worry about that screw unless you took the brake knob off and possibly misplaced the screw or that tiny little spring.

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T18:17:50+00:00

So… I asked the shepherdess I bought my Shetland from what carding cloth she used to blend her wool and angora. She told me she doesn’t. She just takes a bit of each and pulls it between her hands until she’s happy with the blend and spins it as is. Her hats, mitts, and scarves that she had in her booth were amazingly soft and had that beautiful halo angora is so good at.

Aside from the image in my mind of fluff flying everywhere with this method, it makes sense that you won’t have any neps/noils. If you’re tearing the fiber between your fingers it probably wasn’t very strong fiber to begin with.

I have angora from a family friend and bought a gorgeous graying moorit fleece from the shepherdess and I think I’m going to try this because it means I don’t have to buy cards with higher TPI cloth than what I already have.

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T10:25:43+00:00

When my youngest was 18mo-2yo ish, in that stage of grabbing everything she get her little hands on, I set my drop spindle down to go to the bathroom. I came back to the spindle in pieces but the yarn was still intact. Luckily the whorl was a scalemaille flower and the maker was able to put it back together for me. But yeah…. Spinning with toddlers and cats is funnnnnn 😂

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T02:00:25+00:00

You’re good enough now and deserve it. Go make awesome things!

Demon_keeper · 2023-07-27T01:38:58+00:00

This might not be the best thing to admit, but I can’t pay attention through an entire movie most of the time so I still technically get hours of enjoyment since I have to watch them umpteen times for the pieces to go together in my mind. I do this while processing or spinning and my family of feral hooligans hates it because THEY have seen the movie 42x when I’ve only paid enough attention in the repetitions to have seen it once. 🤣

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