Wheel!

This week, for my first anniversary gift, I received an Ashford Traveller spinning wheel.

*glowing with happiness*

I tried out all sorts of wheels at Gate City Fibers in Greensboro--the Ladybug, a Louet Victoria, the Ashford Kiwi, Ashford Traditional. The Traveller was by far the winner in the categories of (1) prettiness, (2) smoothness of treadle, and (3) compactness.

We saved money by purchasing the wheel unfinished and unassembled. I recommend this actually, especially to beginning spinners. When I opened the box and put every piece of the wheel on the table for finishing, I really learned about each individual piece of the wheel, and what each part does.

Even though it looked like a big old mess.



Then, the husband put it together for me, while I supervised. The conversation was often funny.
Me: That's the maiden.
Mike: Seriously?
Me: And that's the lazy kate.
Mike: Don't we already have one of those?



And then the wheel was finished.


While Mike built the wheel, I was unraveling some thrift store sweaters. My goal with the wheel has never been to make yarn from scratch--although I'm sure I'll do that too (especially for lace-weight yarns). Instead, I want to make yarn from recycled sweaters, by plying it with raw fiber I process at my home. I'll post some pictures of my results, soon.

Big League Chew is Gross (a dyeing project)

We've all been there: the big yarn purchase that you later regret, because the color is crazy, or the texture is weird, but in the moment you think, for example, this is awesome, this pepto-pink, lavender, grape-purple variegated lace yarn.

Seriously?

I'm having strong doubts about strongly-variegated lace yarn in general, because it seems to detract from the lace work. But this knitpicks gossamer, colorway "sweet peas," is the most vomitous colorway I've ever worked with.

It looks like that gum from my childhood, that came in "pink" and "purple" flavors--dump two pouches of Big League Chew on the table, swirl it all together and you get...this horrible yarn.

Something had to be done.

So I snipped the working yarn of my Zimmerman pi shawl; I unscrewed the needle tips and put on the caps of my knitpicks options needles; I wound all of the unknitted yarn of this colorway onto my swift to make two long hanks. I dropped the half-knitted shawl and the two hanks in the dyepot with a bunch of raspberry blue Koolaid and cyan food coloring.

It came out great. Thank god.

I'm still not sure about the variegation with the pi shawl though, because the ever-increasing diameter causes the colors to pool in not-so-awesome ways. I might end up dyeing the final product a darker color. But the other 1500 yards I have of this colorway look great, and will make a good rectangular shawl or baby clothes.

Swift on a Chair

My awesome significant-other-person MAP gave me a beautiful maple wood swift for xmas (purchased at Yarns Etc. in Carrboro). We named it Jonathan. I purchased a darling little winder to go with it (previously mentioned, named Harry). So now I have Jonathan and Harry and I want to wind all of my yarn while watching Arrested Development. The problem is, I don't have a table of the right shape to clamp these great tools upon.

Voila. Harry and Jonathan, happy together.