If you follow the link to Cape Breton’s Magazine, you can read the story of Mary Red Dan Smith and a Spindle.

An interesting story about how a piece of wood about 5 inches long, with notches at the base and tapering into a cone to a tiny round ball at the top, was used as a small spindle, or dealgan beag (Gaelic for small spindle).

I was able to find one made by @happay on Instagram (as pictured above). 

An interesting spindle, just over 6 inches tall and weighing 1.7 oz, seems light, but for a spindle, it’s quite heavy. 

Initially, spinning on the dealgan-style spindle was a bit awkward, but after about an hour or so of practice, it started to become more of a fascination for me.

The beauty of this spindle is that it also functions as a nostepinne. As the single is spun, it is then wrapped onto the body of the spindle in the same manner as wrapping a nostepinne. The final result is a center-pull ball that you can then ply your single from.

There isn’t much information on this type of spindle available online. I am trying to research it further to see if I can find anything additional. With my trip to Edinburgh just a few weeks away, I hope to gather more details while I’m there. 

Until next time…