From

As an artist, explain in as much detail as possible, why you love your favorite tools. What makes them a joy to use, what makes them suited to your style?

Okay... let's start with my fiber tools.

My wheels. The Ashford Joy I have is portable, it spins well with minimal oiling, and it's a good work-horse. The only reason I got the Lendrum DT Folding Wheel was because the Lendrum has bobbins twice as big as the Joy's. I love the Lendrum because the wheel's bigger, the normal head and normal and fast flyers work so well without any fuss. The plying head is its own animal, but it's gotten to be a much better tool.

My dye studio and equipment. OH, I love my dye studio. It's bright, it's the right height, the dyepots are big enough to dye several batches of yarn or fiber at a time, and the dye bottles are big enough to accommodate my style of dyeing a ton at a time.

My knitting needles. I love both my bamboo needles and my addi turbos for different reasons. The bamboo gives my stitches a little grip without being too grippy. The addis are slick and smooth and lightweight for metal needles.

My photography tools:

My dSLR. The D80 fits in my hands, it takes good photos, it fits all the lenses I need and want to use. I even love the bracket we put on it. The matching clamp on the ceiling in the photo studio is pretty cool, too. And the head and clamp on the Gorilla Pod, too. Although I keep forgetting to use it.

Our woodworking tools:

The lathe. Oh, how I love the lathe, and the gouges and skews. In combination, they're hypnotic, and somewhat soothing (once you round over the piece you're working on).

now something that I don't know if anyone else will mention...

The cooking tools. I love our oven and stove. I love our roasting pan, our heavy skillet, our grill pan, etc. I love our knives, too. The Santoku, the granton santoku, and Herr Brotmeisser. The Chef's knife, the little chef's knife, too. The cutting boards. All of the tools and implements in our kitchen create the perfect environment to create dishes that are scrumptious and (mostly) nice to look at, too.

--crazymonkey-christy