Molly
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cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Molly
@cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
230 followers 190 following 280 posts
Fiber & ceramic artist. Midwest US

I love spinning yarn from wool & natural fibers on spinning wheels & spindles, knitting, weaving & crocheting. My ceramic work spans colored clay, carving, printmaking & wheel thrown & altered forms. She/her/they.
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cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Molly @cobaltandindigo.bsky.social · Feb 2
This yarn started as a batt to test a secondhand drum carder with a mix of wool mill ends, sari silk, and hand-dyed mohair. I spun it on my Starling e-wheel and plyed on my Sparrow and ended up with 2 ounces and 240 yards. I'm thinking an @aimeeshermakes.bsky.social mitten pattern will be next. 🧶
A twisted skein of handspun yarn sits on a wooden frame with natural light creating high contrast lights and shadows. The color of the yarn is a pale cool pink with bits of colorful silk threads, approximately sock or fingering weight with two plies. The background is full of leaves and snow, with a screen texture visible in the background. #handspinning #handspun #sarisilk #knitsky #spinning #spinnersofbluesky #wool #yarn #fiberarts #fibrearts A dark blue electric spinning wheel is in the foreground with a mostly-full black bobbin of light cool pink yarn spun and plied. In the background is paper and an inch-grid cutting mat. #handspinning #handspun #sarisilk #knitsky #spinning #spinnersofbluesky #wool #yarn #daedalusspinningwheels #daedalussparrow A warmly lit view of an electric spinning wheel with bobbin in a blue toned gray with a single strand of light pink yarn being wound on to the core of the bobbin in a thin mostly even layer. A lit fireplace is visible in the background with a brick chimney surround and the table the spinning wheel is on is also warm and wood toned. #handspinning #handspun #sarisilk #knitsky #spinning #spinnersofbluesky #wool #yarn #daedalusspinningwheels #daedalusstarling A batt of wool fills the frame with fibers running mostly in parallel with the vertical alignment of the photo. The wool is made up of what appears to be a white base with tones and bits of purple and pink showing through. Threads of silk in a variety of bright colors are visible interspersed throughout the batt. #handspinning #handspun #sarisilk #knitsky #spinning #spinnersofbluesky #wool #yarn #brotherdrumcarder #cardingwool #spinningfiber #drumcarder
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I’m still here. Still savoring the joy & beauty of wool & spinning. Still looking for ways to make things better & doing my best to lift those up who need support. Still frustrated that no matter what I do, it doesn’t seem like enough to turn the tide.

Still not giving up.
A left hand in pinky peach color holds some freshly washed glistening crimpy curly white lambs wool in the sunlight that’s coming in from the window in the background. #handspinning #wool #yarn
May 7, 2025 at 11:27 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I’m enjoying a cozy night in scouring and drying this crimpy soft deep charcoal Romney cross lamb’s fleece by the fireplace. Sometimes the small things make a big difference.
A left hand is in focus with light skin and a dark brown and black handful of wool locks in palm. In the background a white mesh drying rack holds more of the wool in layers and a gas fireplace is behind out of focus.
April 1, 2025 at 1:48 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Why yes, that is a giant baking sheet full of handspun yarn! My mom brought over a bin of yarn from my early handspinning years and I’m giving it a quick heat treatment since it was in the attic for a bit.

This is all from 15-20 years ago - so many great memories 🥹 & only 1/3 of the total!
A large baking sheet fills the frame, full of small skeins and balls of yarn in a variety of colors and textures. The yarn is handspun and full of character. #handspinning #yarn
March 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Blending fibers is such fun. I spun roughly equal parts soft brown Shetland, silky white Suri Alpaca, and springy crisp Rambouillet wool into a small sample & knitted a lace swatch today.

The resulting fabric has beautiful shine, drape, halo & memory. It would make a beautiful scarf or shawl.
Three handfuls of washed fiber sit on a dark blue woven background. The top is a fawn colored Shetland wool with wavy crimp and creamy yellow tips, the right is a matte white densely crimped and shorter length Rambouillet wool, and the left is a creamy cloud of beige suri alpaca that’s been picked open, with a shiny halo surrounding. A top whorl Kundert spindle in rich natural wood tones sits in the lap of someone wearing green pants, with both legs folded underneath. The spindle has a small cop of shiny fine singles spun with a golden sheen filled cloud of fiber off to the left being drafted from. A closeup picture of a knitted lace swatch with a shiny beige yarn with halo visible in the lace pattern yarn-overs.
March 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
A moment of peace spinning with this lovely #inglenookfibers top on a beautiful sunny day full of birds singing.

Wishing everyone a wonderful solstice, with more light each and every day here on out to banish the darkness. ☀️
A cherry Lendrum saxony wheel bobbin and flyer fill the frame with intense sunshine and shadows from the driveband visible. There’s yarn in shades of gray, purple, copper, black, blue and pale green visible as singles on the bobbin which is mostly full. #handspinning #yarn
March 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Molly
the-peahen.bsky.social
I know taking action is hard, and it's scary. But a year from now, you will wish you'd started today.
The Balrog colorway by @fossilfibers
Ninja supported spindles by @spanish_peacock
#supportedspindle #supportedspinning #wemakeyarn #handspunyarn #handspun
March 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I had to remind myself today that as much as I love sample skeins, I have to label them or I will quickly find that the details are lost to time. Lots of cable plyed play lately!
4 small bundles of handspun yarn in a variety of natural colors and textures and one white woven square air on a silver laptop. Small paper tags are affixed by a cotton string to each with the breed, source, date, ply structure, and other notes. #handspinning #yarn #wool
March 5, 2025 at 3:11 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
My best friend is just as impatient as I am for this freshly scoured naturally colored Cotswold lamb fleece to dry.
A tabby cat’s face is in focus in the bottom of the right with a curious and insistent look on his face. In the background curly wool in shades of gray, brown and white sits on white mesh drying racks in front of a fireplace, awaiting further processing into yarn. #knitsky #spinning #handspinning #fleecetosweater #rawwool
March 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
From the way back when files:

This was a spin from a super soft yet really frustratingly full of neps and noils batt of merino wool.

I dyed it and spun it up as a textured single that got plyed with a soft and stretchy nylon to create a fun yarn series.

Lemonade out of lemons! 🍋
Three chunky skeins of highly textured handspun yarn in blue, green and purple sit outdoors on a white rock filled surface with a few young bright green oxalis plants growing at center. The tan texture looks almost spiral with lots of bumps and color variations. #handspun #handspinning
February 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Between making my 5 phone calls and doing my work things, I squeezed in a trip to a local farm today to meet some sheep and pick up 3 gorgeous Romney/Merino cross fleeces.

It feels so good to be spending money with women owned and run businesses and feeding energy back into my community.
Sunshine falls on a hand with unwashed locks from three fleeces - a dark gray with reddish brown tips, a light gray with golden taupe tips, and a cream colored very crimpy with curly tips. Bags and boxes are visible out of focus in the background. #spinning #rawwool #womenowned #community
February 27, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Molly
jacquelyngill.bsky.social
Hey, artists, in case you were wondering if your work matters: I'm a scientist working on climate change and biodiversity, and I would not be who I am today without The Lorax, The Secret of NIMH, Watership Down, The Last Unicorn, and The X-Files. I know I'm not alone. Thank you for all you do.
February 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
One of my first projects when I got back into ceramics a few years ago was making myself a matcha whisking bowl with a pouring spout. I have used it hundreds of times since it came out of the kiln and each time I craft a matcha latte it makes me smile. It’s far from perfect but it’s perfect for me.
A black ceramic bowl with foamy green matcha and a bamboo whisk sits on a speckled beige countertop with the base of a hot water pot barely visible in the background.
February 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Mini sample skeins of handspun yarn are my new favorite. This is 10 yards of Cormo spun from 1-2g of locks from my most recently scoured fleece.
A small several inch long twisted skein of glowy white wool lays in the hand of the photographer. A desk and keyboard are seen out of focus in the background.
February 26, 2025 at 12:41 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
What a great spinning resource to share!
tinyfibrestudio.bsky.social Becks @tinyfibrestudio.bsky.social · Feb 23
These swatches were all spun from the same blended top. I love experimenting with what’s possible… so much so I did a class for @jarbontextiles.bsky.social and you can watch it free on YouTube, if you fancy! youtu.be/XOUMRkmxTPY?...
Four knitted swatches of handspun yarn. On the left, one is very blended in colour, the middle one contains short stripes and in the bottom one half the swatch is dark, the other light. On the right is a gradient which looks like a sunset. Dark brown at the bottom, through orange to a pinky coral. A spiral of blended tops (lengthways colour stripes), containing pink, orange, brown, white and black.
February 24, 2025 at 2:32 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
A Friday fleece arrival meant I snuck in a few bits of play before facing the horrors.

This handful of white Shetland wool locks washed up lovely and lustrous and quickly spun up into a structured and personality filled yarn.

Weavette woven squares are great for small sample sizes like this.
A hand holds several locks of raw Shetland wool in a buff color with curly gray tips and lots of frizz. In the background slightly out of focus, a box is visible with a bag of wool inside with more of the fleece. #shetlandwool #rawfleece #spinning #wool #yarn The same wool locks as the first picture are held in a left hand, now cleaned to a white color and longer in length. The wool is held above the box of fleece below. #shetlandwool #rawfleece #spinning #wool #yarn A beige square Corian drop spindle is held in a left hand with fingers and spindle wrapped with a fine two-ply white yarn, including a small cop on the spindle. The yarn is lustrous and a bit rustic with distinct ply and twist structure. The background is a blue/gray tile patterned floor. #shetlandwool #rawfleece #spinning #wool #yarn A sample square of the fine two ply Shetland yarn woven on a handheld 4” loom sits on a blue fuzzy blanket. Multiple loose ends of wool are visible. The texture of the square is loose and lacey, highlighting the twist and texture of the yarn. #shetlandwool #rawfleece #spinning #wool #yarn #weaving
February 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Throwback to a fun quick knit from handspun:
This is Entrechat knit from handspun Falkland for my niece when she was just a toddler. The colors just happened to line up so nicely with the texture in the pattern and I loved how it came together.
A child size shrug style sweater in pink, rose and pale green with cap sleeves, an open front, and a textured stitch panel below the cap sleeves sits on a cardboard box in cool lighting. The sweater is made of handspun Falkland yarn and was knitted as a gift for a family member.
February 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I can’t believe how ethereal and glowy this raw Cormo fleece is in the sunlight. It almost seems too angelic to scour and process. Almost. 😇
A close up picture of very clean golden tinged white fine wool locks in the sunlight with a defined crimp and tight lock structure. #rawwool #spinning #yarn
February 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
This basket of flicked, combed and handpicked locks of washed fleece represents the last six weeks of steady progress on preparing my current fleece for carding and spinning into yarn. 500g is pictured, 100g left to go. Next step carding this all into fluffy batts.
A large colorful grass market basket sits on a beige carpeted floor with a white IKEA kallax shelving unit in the background stacked with bins filled with fiber arts supplies. The basket is stuffed full to overflowing with puffs of naturally colored wool in tones of brown gray and charcoal. A hand grasps the basket to provide a sense of scale. #spinning #sheeptosweater #wool #yarn #spinnersofbluesky
February 19, 2025 at 3:59 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
The two support spindles worth of fiber spun over the last week and a half were united today on my favorite plying spindle, a vintage early model of the Golding ring spindle in carved walnut.

Even small actions, done as consistently as energy allows, do add up to progress.
A blue velvet textured woven pillow sits below a skein of purple yarn with bright colored pops of silk that’s curled up into a nest. A walnut wood carved spindle with a brass ring is sitting on the nest of yarn, empty but glowing in the light. #spindle #spinning #goldingringspindle #creativepractice #consistency #yarn #meditation
February 16, 2025 at 2:54 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I made up some fresh blending board rolags to spin and they fit just beautifully in this colored porcelain teabowl that I made some years ago.

It’s grounding during these dark times to feel the threads of my creative practice interweave over time and remind my of my resilience and strength.
A left hand with the cuff of a green sweatshirt visible cups a cream colored ceramic bowl with a blue gray arced streak of color. The bowl contains a spiral of carefully wound wool and silk spinning fiber rolags in deep blue, purple and shiny lighter blue. The out of focus background is a hardwood oak floor in warm tones. #handspinning #blendingboard #woolenspinning #yarn #neriage #ceramics #teabowl #pottery #porcelain
February 14, 2025 at 6:25 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I’ve known since high school that keeping my hands busy helps calm my brain and increase my focus. Desk spinning is my current favorite way to make Zoom meetings more tolerable and help my brain engage more effectively. This cotton is really meditative and this spindle just glows.
A Hobonichi planner sits open to Feb 11th. A green glass tipped richly colored and woodburned turned spindle sits on the open planner with a cop of finely spun pastel colored cotton visible but out of focus. A wound nest of white cotton with splotches of pink, purple and yellow is visible to the left and a green glass heart (used as a bowl for spinning) is visible to the right. A blue timer is also just out of frame to the top right. #handspinning #yarn #spinning #supportspindle #cottonspinning #mingoandasho
February 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
I’m onto spindle number two spinning this sari silk and purple wool blend batt. I’m finding myself wondering why my spindles have been so neglected when this process is so soothing.
A glass tipped support spindle with a blue sparkle dichroic glass tip and woodturning that emphasizes multiple colors of wood with a decorative woodburned scene of a sun over a river with trees sits on a blue velvet woven surface. Purple yarn is wound into a small cop slightly out of focus further up the shaft. #spinning #supportspindle #mingoandasho #yarn #knitting #fiberarts
February 9, 2025 at 3:23 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
These colors 😍! My niece (who I’ll be spinning this for) said it looked like Northern Lights. I think we could all use some bright dancing lights in the darkness right now and I’m so grateful - @skepticalg.bsky.social did such a great job with this custom order.
A screenshot of an Instagram video from FatCatKnits showing four braids of a vibrant gradient dyed Nemesis colorway starting with deep blue, then moving to neon blue, green, yellow and pink before transitioning to purple and midnight blue, almost black. The braids are on a white table in natural light and almost glowing. #fatcatknitsdyer #spinning #northernlights #auroraborealis #lightinthedarkness #spinningfiber #wool #yarn
February 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
My kind and sweet and only occasionally rascally cat has been such a great helper. In fact he may love this lamb’s fleece just as much as I do! And I’m okay with that. I’m saving all of my combing seconds to make him his own little bed to remember this project by. 🧶🐈‍⬛
A pile of washed naturally colored brown and gray wool is visible in the foreground with a very cute and sleepy tabby cat snuggling it in center of the frame. A blue velvet looking cushion is present off to the right and it appears as if a couch cushion is behind the scene.
February 6, 2025 at 12:03 AM
cobaltandindigo.bsky.social
Did I technically need another spinning project? No. Did I need another emotional support project though? Yes, definitely yes.
A batt of sparkly purple fiber with glossy silk bits and threads sits on a blue pillow with a hand holding a wooden spindle made of several distinct types of wood turned in a decorative pattern that’s topped with a glass tip swirled in purple, pink and green on top. A small cop of 🧶 yarn is visible wound on the shaft of the spindle. Spindle by #mingoandasho and fiber blended by an artist not yet on BlueSky. #Spindlespinning #supportspindle #fiberarts #spinning
February 4, 2025 at 10:24 PM