Travel Size Support Spinning Bowls

These four ceramic travel size support spinning bowls were listed in our Etsy shop today.  Each little bowl comes with a zippered pouch.

New Mini Russian Style Support Spindle and Bowl Travel Sets

Four new mini Russian style support spindle and bowl travel sets were listed in our Etsy shop today.  The woods used in these handspinning tools are cocobolo, pau ferro, cherry and birdseye maple.

Book of Kells Sacred Salmon Ceramic Bowl

It is believed that the Book of Kells was written at the end of the eighth century at the monastery of Iona.  Its purpose was to serve as an illuminated liturgical Gospel to be displayed on an altar, and as such, was beautifully illustrated with elaborate drawings.  On the Chi Rho page, animals representing the air (birds and moths), of the sea (fish and otters) and of the land, cats and mice, can be seen.  

To the Celts, the fish symbolized knowledge, wisdom, the gift of prophecy and inspiration.  The Salmon of Wisdom were keepers of all knowledge. Mythology tells us that this knowledge was attained by eating the nuts of the sacred hazel tree.

This beautiful dark chili pepper red ceramic bowl, that we created by hand, is perfect for so many things--rings, pins, votive candles or even as a small prep dish. This dish measures 3 1/4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch tall. As with all of our ceramic pieces, the glaze is lead free.

Small Ceramic Prep Bowl Set

These sweet little earthenware clay prep bowls measure 3 1/2 inches in diameter and 1 inch deep. They are perfect for so many things like tapas bowls, sauces, nuts, candies or even small soaps and jewelry. I made these without the benefit of a wheel, so their slight irregularities make them truly one of a kind pieces. Lead free purple glaze was used to finish the bowls making them food safe.

Mini Russian Support Spindle Travel Sets

This is a new item for Grizzly Mountain Arts!  We are excited to introduce our "Mini Russian Support Spindle Travel Set".  The mini Russian spindle included with each set is the same size as our previous hair stick spindles but these are crafted from heavier woods.  The weight of each spindle can be varied by removing the two glass beaded rings.  Also included with each set is a mini ceramic spinning bowl that travels securely in it's zippered pouch.

French Spool Knitters

Four new spool knitters were listed in our Etsy shop today.  The woods are birdseye maple, apricot, tiger maple and white ash.  Each spool knitter comes with a matching loop lifter.

The basic shape of most knitters is always a tube or spool shape with a hole in the center and different numbers of pins around the top to serve as a mini loom. While Dave has made a variety of different knitter shapes, he most commonly uses the basic shape that comes from a duck or goose call. Millions of duck hunters can’t be wrong! He has used these calls himself while hunting waterfowl and during his game warden days he checked hundreds of hunters with the calls hanging around their necks on lanyards. He doesn’t know when the basic shape of the duck call first came about but it has been round for over a hundred years and is the best design for hand holding.


When he was turning a few different game calls he noted how similar the shape was to the original “Knitting Nancy” spool knitters so he adapted the basic shape of the lower part of the game calls to be the primary shape of his spool knitters. Like duck calls, they can be carved, inlayed, burn etched or embellished in many different ways.

New French Spool Knitters with Matching Loop Lifters

These two wood and brass spool knitters with matching loop lifters have been listed in our Etsy shop today.  One is Swiss pear with pyrography, and the other is cocobolo with fossil mammoth ivory accents.

Book of Kells Cat and Mouse Ceramic Bowls

It is believed that the Book of Kells was written at the end of the eighth century at the monastery of Iona.  Its purpose was to serve as an illuminated liturgical Gospel to be displayed on an altar, and as such, was beautifully illustrated with elaborate drawings.

On the Chi Rho page, animals representing the air, birds and moths, of the sea, fish and otters and of the land, cats and mice.  These earthenware clay bowls depict what could have been a resident sanctuary cat chasing a mouse that has stolen a eucharistic host.

These beautiful, earthy deep blue bowls that we created by hand, are perfect for so many things!  Rings, pins, votive candles or even as small prep dishes. The cat dish measures about 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch deep, and the mouse dish measures 3 1/4 inches wide and 1/4 inch deep.  Additional photos can be found at the listing for these sweet little bowls in our Etsy shop.

Mini Russian Style Support Spindle Hair Sticks

We have listed four more of the mini Russian style support spindle hair sticks in our Etsy shop this evening.  The woods used in these are tiger maple, walnut, myrtlewood and cherry.  The walnut spindle also has a turquoise accent ring.

Mini Russian Spindle Hair Stick

Is it a mini Russian support spindle, or a hair stick?  Actually, it's both!

This sweet little 7 1/4 inch birch Russian style support spindle, that features Dave's signature pyrographic leaf motif, can do double duty as a beautiful hair stick and as a travel size handspinning tool. The weight of this spindle is 0.2 ounces (5g).