Mini Scrimshawed Alternative Ivory Egg Whorl Support Spindle Travel Set

These little beauties are perfect for lace weight and other fine, lightweight fibers. 

The egg whorl of this mini support spindle was crafted by Dave from an alternative ivory composite material created by him using a formula of resin, calcium carbonate (powdered limestone) and recycled mammoth ivory dust that he collects from his carvings and sawing of mammoth ivory. He casts the alternative ivory material into turning blanks, then turns the egg shape whorl together with the wooden shaft for balance. Dave has adorned this egg whorl with a scrimshawed floral pattern.  The 8 1/4 inch shaft from bloodwood. The weight of this beautiful spindle is 0.7 oz. (20 grams).

Also included with this set is a mini ceramic spinning bowl that travels securely in it's zippered pouch.

Double End Crochet Hook Size G/H with Scrimshawed Case

Double End Crochet Hook Size G/H with Scrimshawed Case


Dave has handcrafted this 6 inch double end mahogany crochet hook as a true “Gift from the sea”. He is also including the hand scrimshawed case which has been initialed and dated.

He calls this a “Gift from the sea” because he made it from a piece of very hard mahogany ships timber that had washed up on the Oregon Coast. It has been cured for years by the saltwater and he has not found any wood harder. Dave says that working with this cured mahogany is like working with ironwood in that it burns his saws and carving tools.


This gorgeous one of a kind crochet hook and scrimshawed case is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Scrimshaw Elk Antler Nalbinding Knitting Needle

Scrimshaw Elk Antler Nalbinding Knitting Needle

Dave has handcrafted this nalbinding knitting needle from elk antler and scrimshawed a Nordic design on it. It is slightly curved and 2 3/8 inch long. Many of the ancient nalbinding needles discovered from archeological sites were made from antler. This needle is ideal for authentic tool use in SCA events or Ren-Faire.

What is Nalbinding! According to Wikipedia , Nålebinding (Danish: literally "binding with a needle" or "needle-binding", also naalbinding or naalebinding) is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet. Also known in English as "knotless netting," "knotless knitting," or "single needle knitting," the technique is distinct from crochet in that it involves passing the full length of the working thread through each loop, unlike crochet where the work is formed only of loops, never involving the free end. Archaeological specimens of fabric made by nålebinding can be difficult to distinguish from knitted fabric.

Dave uses shed antlers which naturally fall off the animal each year after the breeding season. They grow back during spring and summer and are fully developed again by the fall breeding season. After that, they are shed and the process repeated again for the next years growth.

This nalbinding needle is currently up for auction on Ebay. Please visit the auction to view more photos of this nalbinding needle.

What's Dave Been Up to Lately?

You may have noticed that Dave hasn't had many items up for auction on Ebay lately, but that's not because he's not working. He has been creating up a storm in his studio! I keep trying to get him to let me take a photo of his workspace, but he gets a panicked look on his face and says "Nooooo"! LOL

One of the projects he's been working on is the beautiful set shown above that was commissioned by one of our wonderful patrons. The ruler is scrimshaw on bone and the scissor fob features scrimshaw on fossil mammoth ivory. The focal bead on the fob is fossil walrus which has been accented with small bone beads and amethysts. East Indian Rosewood was used for the tatting shuttle, which also has the teddy bear scrim'd on fossil mammoth ivory.

Dave is nearly finished with his last commission, which was a large order from a tatting shuttle collector, so you should be seeing some new auctions soon! I'll be sure and post them here when he has them ready :)

Personalized Scrimshaw Lace Tatting Shuttle

Personalized Scrimshaw Lace Tatting Shuttle

Dave has hand crafted this 3 inch lace tatting shuttle out of Honduras Rosewood. On one side, he will scrimshaw your personal initial (only one initial please). The reverse side has been inlayed with a mother of pearl diamond.  This one-of-a-kind tatting shuttle has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.  More photos of this tatting shuttle can be found here.

Celtic Good Day, Bad Day Scrimshaw Ogham Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

Everybody has their "GOOD DAYS" and also their "BAD DAYS". Now you can express your moods quietly in Irish Gaelic written in the ancient Ogham Tree Alphabet.

Dave has created this unique reversible carved bone ogham pendant just for those occasions! When you're in a good mood, you can wear the side out that says "SONAS" in Gaelic, which means "HAPPINESS". When you're in a bad mood (perhaps because of your boss), you can wear the side out that says "Pog Mo Thoin", which in Gaelic means "KISS ME ARSE"! With this unique pendant you can now make a fashion statement while your telling someone to kiss off in ancient ogham!

Ogham is read from the bottom up when written in the vertical and sometimes a symbol such as an X or arrow might be used to indicate the starting point at the bottom. To help you quickly distinguish which side to wear, Dave as used a symbol at the bottom of each ogham--an "up turned curve" symbol to indicate a smile, and on the reverse side a "down turned curve" symbol, for a frown.

This bone pendant hangs from a Hill Tribe silver jump ring and 30" black satin cord. The cord is easily removable if you have a favorite chain you prefer to use. A gift box is included with your purchase.

We hope you have many good days filled with Irish blessings, but on the days you don't.....well, you know ;)

Medieval Norse Fossil Mammoth Ivory Nalbinding Needle

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

Here's another new item for our Etsy shop! I think Dave is on a nalbinding needle roll!

Dave has carved this nalbinding needle from fossil mammoth ivory and has adorned it with a scrimshawed Celtic motif.  This and other handmade fiber art tools can be found in our Etsy shop.

Personalized Celtic Ogham Scrimshaw on Fossil Ivory Pendant

This Personalized Celtic Ogham Fossil Mammoth Ivory Pendant is a new item for us!

In the pendant photographed above, Dave has scrimshawed the name "Beth" into fossil mammoth ivory. The name "Beth" on this display piece, is written using the Celtic Ogham alphabet.

Our 1 inch long fossil mammoth ivory pendants can be personalized with almost any name. Each pendant hangs from a ball chain and will arrive in a gift box. If you are interested in having a personalized pendant, please visit our Etsy shop for more information.

Scrimshaw on Ivory Celtic Drop Spindle

This is a little spindle Dave has been working on over a period of time. Not exactly your wooden toy wheel and dowel rod spindle, is it?

This is a 1.0 ounce top whorl spindle, with the whorl measuring 1 7/8 inches. The length, not including the brass top hook, measures 7 inches. The wood is a beautiful East Indian Rosewood and the intricate Celtic design has been scrim'd on ancient Russian mammoth ivory. This spindle has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker, on the bottom of the whorl. This spindle is currently up for auction on Ebay.

The Lighthouse at Yaquina Head

This stunning example of Dave's scrimshaw is a scene of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon. Dave has scrim'd this scene on a piece of fossil mammoth ivory that measures about 2 3/4" in height and about 1" in width at it's widest point.

This one of a kind piece sits atop a base which was also made by Dave from pecan flour and resin.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is currently available in our Etsy shop.

Latest Additions to the Cache

Thanks to all of our wonderful patrons, we've had to add more fossil ivory and beads to our "Grizzly Mountain Cache" Etsy shop!

One of the fossil ivory items added, is a beautiful ingot of mammoth ivory. Dave shaped and finished this piece so it can be worn as is, or it is ready for you to try your hand at scrimshaw. Other fossil ivory lots recently added, are eleven lots of fossil shards that would be ideal for wire wrappers or carvers.

When I make my tribally inspired jewelry, I tend to use the more imperfect looking supplies as I feel that in their imperfection, they are perfect. The newly added Terra Cotta blue beads are a fine example of this. When you look through our galleries of sold items on our website, you can quickly identify what I (Jo) make, and what Dave makes, as his work is precise and polished and mine is....not so much :)

If you'd like to take a look at our newest Cache items, please click the link below.

Grizzly Mountain Cache--Primitive Supplies and Other Unusual Findings

Scrimshaw on Ivory Lace Picot Gauge/Ruler

Another neat little lace tool for your collection! Dave made this little ruler out of ancient mammoth ivory with little Rosewood finger grips.

The measuring increments for picots are 1/16 inch by 2 inches. The width is ¼ inch so you can use it has a ¼ inch picot gauge. The back is scrimshawed with an oak leaf and acorn motif. Dave also carved an oak leaf fob out of fossil ivory and Jo has beaded the fob with garnets. This piece has been initialed and dated by Dave.

This lace picot gauge/ruler is currently up for auction on Ebay.com. If you would like to view more photos of this item, please click the link below.

Scrimshaw on Ivory Lace Picot Gauge/Ruler on Ebay.com

Scrimshaw Bone Sampler Style Ruler

This delicate little ruler was made especially for the sampler stitchers and collectors. Dave made this little bone ruler in a sampler style. This is rigid bone, about 1/16 inch thick, not thin and flexible like the rulers made from piano keys. The alphabet, flowers, markings and poem are all scrimshawed in the bone.

The poem that is scrim'd on the back is also by Dave.

This ruler is currently up for auction on Ebay.com. If you would like to view this auction, please click the link below.

Scrimshaw Bone Sampler Style Ruler

Scrimshaw Ancient Ivory Needle Holder Ring

Since we're still in our needle minder frenzy, we thought we'd try and make a piece that was both functional as a ring and fiber art tool. We recently bought some beautiful vintage adjustable brass rings (thanks, EpochBeads!) and thought they would be perfect for this project.

Dave has scrim'd a graceful dragonfly on a beautiful piece of ancient mammoth ivory. Hidden underneath, is a powerful rare earth magnet on which you can park your needle! When you're not sewing, it is still beautiful enough to wear as jewelry!

This ring is currently up for auction on Ebay.com. If you would like to view this auction, please click the link below.

Scrimshaw Ancient Ivory Needle Holder Ring Ebay Auction

Scrimshaw Sailors Ditty Box and Tatting Shuttle

If you haven't checked out our latest Ebay auction, you're missing out on one of Dave's most unique pieces ever! It's a replica of an old sailors ditty box that he has burn etched and best of all, it also includes one of Dave's handmade tatting shuttles. The 2 1/2 inch long walnut shuttle has a sailor scrimshawed into the ancient mammoth ivory inlay. The interior of the ditty box has been decopaged with prints of period antique art. To see more photos of this item, please use the link below to view the Ebay auction listing.

Click here to view the auction!