Spinning and Spinning Wheels

I started spinning again. I learned to spin in 1997, a year after I learned to knit. Since then I started a collection of spindles and wheels. This is my Journey Wheel. I chose it because it was the only truly portable double-drive, double treadle wheel. I like the ease of double treadling and since taking a class with Judith McKenzie-McCuin I prefer double drive spinning. It really is a matter of preference, which I won't get into here. Like turning a heel or knitting Continental vs English, we all tend to do what we learned first. BTW, I prefer the flap heel over the short row and Continental over English.


I'm spinning some very colorful superwash merino beautifully dyed by Lynne Vogel. It's been awhile since I spun and it's a little over twisted so I'm going to navajo ply it and hope for the best. As you can see here, I'm using the color changes to remind me to change hooks.




Now that I'm spinning again, my oldest daughter decided she wanted to learn. This is her first attempts appropriately done on my first wheel an Ashford Traveler. I'm very proud of both of them.





The oldest wheel in my collection is a Wee Peggy. I rescued it from a friend who was ready to toss it. It WAS a single treadle, double-drive wheel. I loved the way the tension is adjusted, but I hated the single treadle. It was a real ka-thunker so, I removed the treadle. This wheel is no longer made, but a similar wheel, by Baynes has a double treadle kit, which I bought.



With that and some fancy-work from my father-in-law who's handy with a welding torch (original part on the left, 1st prototype of dual axle spinny-thingy on the right -- it took 2 tries) we were able to turn my ugly-duckling...





Into the beautiful swan she always was meant to be.

It has since been finished. She has a mere 14" diameter drive wheel and while she's slow, she's smooth as silk.

My Very First Steek!

I took 1 12-hour class at Stitches West that ran over 2 days. The class was taught by Beth Brown-Reinsel and on Saturday, 2/23/08 at approximately 10:30am I cut my first steek, that afternoon I cut my 2nd steek and I still have one left to go:



Here it is the remnants of my first steek. Beth let me pick up for the sleeve first and I knit through the first motif postponing the inevitable.






She showed us various finishing techniques but I liked this one, using a hemstitch I tacked the steek down with the ends tucked under to the purl bumps on the wrong side.




We had to cut the front steek BEFORE picking up the band. I made a mistake reversing the colors of the rib, so I ripped back to the pick up and with all the fiddling and doing the buttonholes twice, it still didn't unravel!

Note: I added links to yesterday's post and a purchase I missed (Yarn Country Cashmere). Enjoy!

Bi-Annual Stitches West Haul and Longaberger Basket Parade

This being the 2nd year of the yarn haul/basket parade, it's now a tradition (the first was in Feb 2006). Longaberger retires certain baskets the same time Stitches West comes along, splitting my re$ource$ between baskets and yarn.

Yarn: Jade Sapphire Cashmere Silk 4-ply in Tahitian Garden

Vendor: Artical Pract

Baskets: American Work Baskets in now discontinued colors sage (8") and merlot (10") and a 12" in warm brown.

 

Yarn: Cashmere 4-ply in natural and periwinkle.
Vendor: Newton's Yarn Country

Basket: Large Recipe

Fiber: (l-r) merino/tencel in atlantis by Chameleon Colorworks, merino/bamboo naturally dyed from Tactile and Sea Wool from Creatively Dyed Yarn.

Basket: 11" American Craft Traditions Round Keeping

Tools: Lady Anne and Flower spindles from Asciano

Basket: 2008 Sweetheart Basket w/ locket tie-on

Yarn: Fine Kid Mohair 4-ply

Vendor: Wagtail Yarns

Basket: 2008 Hostess Appreciation

Yarn: Malabrigo Superwash Merino *Test Sample*, you had to know the secret passphrase to get this not-yet-available yarn for FREE!

Basket: May Series Mini Sweet Pea

I'll have more to report later, but tonight's the Oscars and I gotta get take-out...

4 Things...

I was tagged by Vivian:

4 Jobs I Have Had
JC Penney's in the Candy Dept. ask me anything about any candy
Intern at Grumman, maker of the F-14 Tomcat
Sold Jafra and Avon (but not at the same time)
Lab Tech in college

4 Movies Watched Over and Over
Ever After
French Kiss
All Nighter
Moulin Rouge


4 Books Read Over and Over
Mists of Avalon
Outlander
Pillars of the Earth
Into the Wilderness

4 Places I Have Lived
Oxnard, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
Santa Clara, CA

4 Shows I Watch
(I don't watch TV regularly)
editied later (9/11);  at least then I didn't, now?
Glee
SYTYCD
True Blood
Thrones

4 Places I Have Been
Longaberger, OH
Hawaii
Carribean
Seattle, WA

4 People Who E-mail Me
Cris
Dana
Vivian
Gail (my Longaberger rep)

4 Favorite Things To Eat
Chocolate
Sushi
Cheesecake
French Fries w/ Ranch Dressing

4 Places I Would Rather Be
Longaberger
Hawaii
On a cruise
Home

4 Things I Look Forward To This Year
Stitches West
Summer Longaberger at Jelly Belly
15 year anniversary
Rhinebeck


4 People To Tag
(I don't tag)

It's Mine Now

Vivian finished her Muir. When she started it I looked at the cool pink yarn and wondered what inspired her to buy it. You see I'm nuts for pink (have you noticed?) and Vivian's, well...not. So I watched her work on this shawl. When she finished it I saw that she had some yarn left over, so I made some snarky remark about how she must be sick of it and she offered to trade. Hmmm, trade. It's wool/cashmere. I countered with perusal of my sock stash...I mean, I have tons of sock yarn -- surely I could give some up for wool/cashmere...in pink no less! And we made a date for her to come see the stash.


On Thursday, our guild night, she came in and dropped the remaining ball and an extra skein totaling nearly 1400 yds in a pile in front of me. It felt yummy in my hands and we've already established that I liked the color. A few people came by to pet it and I proudly beamed, "It's mine". So around the table we went, doing our usual show and tell. It was Vivian's turn and she modeled her beautiful Muir. We oohed we ahhed and I pet my yarn with a smile. It was a very big meeting and it took an hour and a half to hear everyone. Afterwards I got up to mingle. I was discussing my RoundTrip sweater (which I wore that night) with some others when Vivian came up to me and handed me the bag containing her Muir. I don't even remember what she said (something about me loving pink). The room became a blur (because I was near tears) and the next thing we're hugging. OMG. Vivian GAVE ME HER MUIR! Not just the leftover yarn -- the whole dang thing!


Now it's one thing to give away baby sweaters and hats to perfect strangers, or even knit special items for family and friends for their birthday or as holiday gifts. As knitters we know the time and effort involved and it's no small thing to receive a handknit item on any occaision. But this, 3-4 months out of her knitting life, just because I like pink. Well, ok it's more than that, I mean, we are friends, but still! We're talking handknit...cashmere...lace! There are no words. I was truly honored.


I brought it home and the next night wore it around the house and I made up my mind that when she came she was welcome to whatever she wanted. She came over the next day. She hadn't seen the stash before. I think she may have been overwhelmed. I showed her around the room and she dug through the sock stash that was spilling over at her feet. I told her I'd be happy to pull a bin out, any bin, they have their contents listed on the front. She took a cursory glance, but stuck with the sock stash. I think at this point I was relieved. I wasn't sure how'd I'd feel once she found something and actually took it. I was grateful for the Muir and the yarn but this was getting scary. I was letting someone other than a blood relative a shot at my stash. She found 1 skein of some handpainted yarn I got on eBay, and I offered her another. She also found some fingering weight merino I had dyed myself and asked, a little hesitant if she could have one. I could refuse her nothing. I have the Muir. Thankfully she stopped there and happily left with her newly acquired stash.



Here's me with the Muir, I'm wearing it upside down because it makes the trees look like hearts. I re-skeined the leftover ball (for easier storage), and it and its mate are sitting back there on the desk. Does it look like it was worth the hole in my stash? It is, however, that was filled with a few clicks on eBay.

Up next: Another meme...