Weekly Spindle Review ~ Enid Ashcroft Tibetan

Maker: Enid Ashcroft
Weight: 24 g /  0.75 oz
Length: 10.25" Shaft, 1 5/8" Whorl 
Style: Tibetan Spindle
Woods: Bocote & Beech Shaft


This beauty packs a lot of punch!  She may be slight but shes a very hard worker.


My sample is a Merino fibre and I got about 19 yards n-plyed.


I'm going to be honest and admit that I hadn't heard much about this spindle maker until recently.  Looking at her Etsy Shop and the thread on her spindles in the Spindle Candy Group on Ravelry, I see I have been missing out!  I had seen one of her spindles go by in a destash (it sold long before I even had a chance to consider it) and it was so beautiful looking!  A few weeks later I was at an Open Fibre Night with my awesome fibre friends and  there just happened to be a destash going on.  (We are all very, very bad enablers).  I saw this little Enid and thought I would give it a try.  I spun for a couple minutes and was quite enthralled.  

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To start, I just spun the spindle around on the table without any fibre and its spin time was lengthy.  I had a batt of fibre of Kim's from The Wacky Windmill and spun for a while with it. The woods are nice and contrast-y and the weight of the spindle was nice and light.  I decided to take it home with me - my first Enid.

The first difference I noticed compared to other tibetan support spindles I own, is that the tip is elongated.  It's nicely shaped and not incredibly pointy, yet there  is just a very fine portion of the wood that actually touches the bowl.  It is amazing because she has been able to create such a small surface for spinning yet the tip isn't needle sharp that I am afraid of damaging it.  It is a very neat looking, very symmetrical yet simple and stunning all at once.  I think she spent a lot of time on this section of the spindle to make sure it was perfect.  

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On the other end, she has tapered the last inch or so of the shaft for a finer tip for spinning off the point.  It acts kind of like a template to place your fingers in the exact right spot for flicking the spindle into motion.  

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The rest of the shaft is pretty much uniform in width except she has carved a groove near the whorl for yarn management and interest.  

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The wood used in the shaft is a nice, hard wood, so neither end is too soft for their purposes.  The shaft has been sanded smooth, but not highly polished as to make it a slippery surface when winding on your spun yarn - there is some grip there. 

The length of the spindle is quite nice.  Its proportionate to the style of the spindle and I can sit comfortably while spinning. 

The whorl is just - so pretty.  As mentioned before, it is a nice contrast to the shaft and it has a beautiful grain to it.  The best thing about this whorl is that it has been carved out to make this spindle rim weighted.  This is another reason why it spins for such a long time.  I am very happy to see this simple touch added to these types of spindles.  It is details like this that really make me love a spindle.  She has also taken the time to make it look smooth, and even added a hole to balance everything out.  There was a lot of time, care and attention put into this spindle and I really appreciate that.

I very much enjoyed spinning my sample on this spindle so much so, I am planning to use this spindle next in my rolag spinning challenge I am doing.  I can fit a decent amount of yarn on this shaft and I found that the more I spun the more each part of the spindle worked in unison to make the process easier.  The spindle spun with little flicking effort, it spun for quite a length of time because of its weight and the rim shaping on the whorl.  The tip had hardly any contact with my bowl so there was less friction to slow it down and this my friends, is how a spindle should be.  

Spindle rating:
Length of spin:  32.6 (average of three tests)
Fibre storage ability: Quite Good
Looks: Dainty with attitude
Overall Rating: 10/10

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The spin time with this spindle was very close to that of the Mirkwood with the ball bearing tip - that surprised me.  I believe there will be more Enid's in my future.  She has a unique style and the craftsmanship is remarkable.  She is more than a woodworker who makes spindles, it's clear that she is also knows the history and mechanics, the tradition and the physics and she makes a damn good spinner.  You need to give these a try.