As much as I love working with bone and horn, I have enjoyed carving various hardwoods into craft tools.
Below is a selection of tools used for needle binding, braiding or weaving. All have been carved from either boxwood, ironwood, ash or bamboo.
The image below shows four slightly different styles of weaving shuttle. The weft thread is wound onto the shuttle to be passed through the shed in the warp threads. These styles are based on shuttle designs that have been in existence for many centuries. Unlike other shuttles that I have made, these are slightly more user friendly as the shuttle doesn't unwind so much if dropped (and I tend to drop things regularly!). Two of the shuttles have a flat bladed edge along one side, this is so the shuttle can also act as a simple beating stick to tighten as you weave.
The selection of needles below have been carved from either ironwood, ash or bamboo. They can be used for many different applications involving a thick yarn or twine. This style of needle is commonly used in needle binding.
