Originally uploaded by cinediva
Nobody told me spinning laceweight singles on a spindle takes for. freaking. ever.
But I’m enjoying it. Camel hair is luscious and soft, different from spinning wool but equally satisfying in a tactile sense. This is the spindle my mom-in-law gave me for Chanukah - I heart it.
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! My shiny-new (to me, anyway) Louet S-10 spinning wheel arrived today while I was at home gathering up salad fixings for lunch back at the office. I could probably sleep comfortably in the box - the seller (it’s second owner) shipped it fully assembled just out of consideration for my convenience.
I am fully stoked, and pictures will most certainly ensue.
Never fear, I still have plans afoot to spin that mile of yarn on the Cantankerous Ol’ Dude. I’ll just… have bigger and better things to ply on.
This year I knit my first sock in under a month. I crocheted a Roman helmet baby hat, a handful of scarves, a dishcloth or two, and crocheted a baby diaper soaker that was too small by the time I finished it. I knit baby legwarmers that… didn’t work out. And my fair share of hats. None of which I documented, alas.
I also made sure to complete my first sewn objects last night - started and finished in 2007 - curtains for our front windows. I cannot say much for the craftsmanship. Sewing washed, dried and hopelessly wrinkled muslin is beyond my beginner’s skill set, I think. Next project I’ll be sure to make something that will never need to be washed, and I’ll do it with crisp, flat, virgin fabric.
Nonetheless, they are DONE. Next up, get curtain rods and hang them. But that will be short work, I believe, and then on to the next project.
My spinning wheel, whom I have dubbed the Cantankerous Ol’ Dude, is as the name would suggest a crotchety fellow. The flyer and bobbin are made of some rough, dry wood, and the sheave along the bobbin that determines the ratio of the bobbin’s spin to the drive wheel’s spin is chipped. There is only one sheave, meaning that the wheel and bobbin can essentially have only one spin ratio, making it not a very versatile machine, and the bobbin is actually quite small. (I’d be surprised if it holds much more than a spun ounce of fiber.)
I only have one bobbin, and no lazy kate, so no plying together of my singles, though if I found something suitable onto which I could wind off, I could Navajo ply them (chaining a la crochet base chain, then twisted in a second spinning process.)
The two legs from which the treadle levers slide apart every now and then, allowing the whole treadle pedal to fall off. The footman is held on to the wheel by a binder clip at the moment, as I don’t have the appropriately sized nut. I am using cotton yarn for a drive band, and the wheel itself is coming apart slightly where the separate pieces of wood that compose it meet.
Oh! And the part that should keep the bobbin/flyer from popping right out, broken and/or missing, replaced with, you guessed it, cotton cord for a barely functional solution.
It is functional, but frankly a complete pain in the ass to spin on.
That said, there are fixes for some things. I’ve tied cord around the legs supporting the treadle to stop them from sliding apart. I’m sure I could have someone make new bobbins, hopefully at least a little higher capacity. I could even possibly replace the entire mother of all, and if I chose a major manufacturer, then I’d have my pick of replacement bobbins. I don’t know what’s to be done about the legs releasing the treadle pedal, or the wheel joints, and frankly just thinking about all this gives me a headache.
But this post isn’t about complaining about the things my wheel wants and needs. I’ve set myself a goal. I’ll retire the Cantankerous Ol’ Dude when I have spun a mile of yarn. That’s 1,760 yards.
Tonight, I’ve spun about 146 wraps around my Macbook screen, otherwise known as 113 yards of an approximately fingering weight yarn (laceweight in some places). I’ve previously spun some yardage, but I haven’t counted it up yet. This may be slow going, but I think it’s a worthy challenge and will probably make a better spinner out of me.
1,647 yards to go, and counting.
2-ply superwash merino in blues and greens!
Originally uploaded by cinediva
Here is the crowning achievement of approximately the last week. At least, the crowning achievement of which I already have pictures. I spun this yarn on a wheel lent to me by a local spinner, after an ad hoc crash course in the functioning of a wheel.It happened like this. About two weeks ago, I posted on Ravelry that I had scored a spinning wheel on Craigslist but didn’t know if it worked, and asked for advice on how to tell if it could be used and if so, what repairs might be in order. Lovely Wendy came to my house and tinkered, prodded, hammered and oiled, and told me that my wheel could indeed make yarn, and that while it is a quirky fellow, a beginner spinning on it certainly garner props of the mad variety from people who know spinning.
To wit, the wheel has been christened “Cantankerous ‘ol Dude,” because after having spun on the modern wheel Wendy lent me, I can say for sure that every inch I spun was a challenge.
In any case, the blues and greens pictured here are my handiwork, two bobbins of singles spun separately and then plied together to form a textured, bulky yarn. I am rather chuffed with my handiwork, and am also pleased to mention that subsequent offerings are improving on the first.
Need I say that I really like spinning? I have my eye toward saving my pennies for my first new wheel.
In other news, Christine and Greg were visiting, outstanding and home-warming guests that they were. They were here to see Christine’s new nephew - my friends Cathy and Mike’s baby boy Christopher (I believe my pile o’ possessives violated some kind of grammar law, but I’m beyond caring.) Greg was unbelievably cute with Sami (Christine is believably cute with Sami, but only because she’d handled Sami when she was nary a month old, and so I could already believe it.) I really loved this visit because it’s comforting when friends come to stay who are really more family than friends. We had a blast, and I really just let C and G set their schedule, as I didn’t have many pressing things to do. They’ve left for Vegas and then back to New York after New Year’s, but I miss them already and can’t wait to see them in New York whenever we manage to get there.
I got up early to make bagels for everyone this morning for breakfast before the planned departure, and they were a hit.
Sadly, I never once pulled out the camera, so all the Sami/Greg/Christine pictures were taken by Christine. Bad momma, no cookie.
This post is actually of very little consequence, just a space saver to let the world know what I’ve been up to lately. I expect there will be a year in review of some sort coming up.