Field Trip!

Last month, I went on a little field trip to Bartlett Yarn Mills, in Harmony, Maine for their first open house. Bartlett Yarn Mills are a working museum and I believe they are the last of their kind in the US. This is me on the right, with my incredible mother on the left, standing in front of their outlet store. My dear sister is behind the camera.My father used to work at this mill. We had the opportunity while here, to meet people who used to work with him and hear from them, wonderful stories about his antics. I miss him dearly since he passed, so this was very special for me. It was even more meaningful to me that I got to share it with Mom and my sister.

I was unable to go on the mill tour because of all the stairs. My sister kindly offered to take pictures of the mill while she and my mother went on the tour. There are many pictures, so I won't post them all here. If you are interested in looking at the pictures you are welcome to view my Flickr album. For more information about the mill, please check out their website. They do have their products available for purchase on the site.

Speaking of purchasing their products, I did a little of that while I was there. Surprise!!! LOL. While there, I met and decided to "adopt" Larry the Llama. I named him Larry, because that was my father's name and I like alliteration. He will be my blog mascot. Please, make him feel at home!Larry is resting on a few bags of rovings that happened to jump into the shopping bags with him. They are 8 oz. bags of the mills round rovings in the Blue Loch, Light Laurel and Mountain Laurel colorways. I also brought home 4 oz. of undyed pencil rovings that I forgot to photograph. I have been told that the mill plans on making the open house an annual event to take place the first week of August each year, in conjunction with the Maine Fiber Arts Tour. I plan on attending next year and hopefully, I will be better able to move, enabling me to tour the mill.

I want to share with you a craft that I was told about at the mill outlet. They said that there is a lady who comes in and buys 5 or more pounds of varied rovings, then takes them home to braid them. Once they are braided, she then tosses them in the washing machine to felt them. Get this, then she stitches them together into a braided rug!!! They say that it is gorgeous and very easy to do. My sister purchased some rovings with the intent of trying this out. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Buttons From A Little South of Heaven

I got a nice little package today. About a week ago, while searching the net for buttons for a sweater I am making, I decided to see what was available on Ebay. I never win Ebay auctions, but it doesn't hurt to look. I came across several listings for large lots of buttons, and I do love buttons, so I bid on a couple. To my surprise I won one of the auctions of 170+ buttons for less than $10 including shipping.

I am someone who sees buttons as little jewels, or treasures, so I was very excited to open the package and rummage through them all. Fortunately, the seller wanted to make sure that everything arrived in very good condition, because it took me over 10 minutes to work my way through all the packaging! There to my surprise was this lovely picture frame, slide-top box. It was filled to the brim with lovely buttons and had a picture in the frame of a young woman doing needlework. I haven't decided if I will replace the picture yet, as I find it quite charming. What a wonderful bonus to come with my buttons!

Now if I can just get my hands to stop sorting through the buttons long enough to finish the sweater!

Spinning Fun!

I have been spinning for the CJ Kopec Creations August SAL on my Bellwether 1.6 oz. spindle. I have been using the spindle so that I can keep my legs elevated as they have been swelling quite a bit lately. So far, I have spun up about 50 yards of ww/bulky low twist singles. I am thinking that this very soft, squishy yarn will make a lovely cowl. (click on the picture to enlarge it)

As you can see, I have found a new use for my TV tray holder. It works wonderfully to hold my spindle while I wind off the yarn. I am going to try using it for plying from spindles in the future, as the grooves that hold the trays in position seem to be perfect for my spindles.

Also, I have started using a bead as a diz for predrafting my roving. I have previously used the holes in a button, but that can create a thinner drafted roving than I desired. I am finding that the large hole in this bead is perfect in size, approx 4 mm, plus it is very smooth, so nothing catches on it.

My other revelation this week has been how to make and use a wrist distaff while spindling. I have seen a few pictures of wrist distaffs, but I didn't quite understand how they worked. Last night I came across this blog showing how to make your own wrist distaff, which looked simple enough. Then I wondered why or if I really need one. I found a video showing how to use one and decided that I would make one and take it out for a spin (lame pun intended).

In the photo collage above you will see how wonderfully it holds my fiber in place. I will never spindle without one again! Below is a better picture of the one I made. I think I will make another one with better yarn and beads, since this was just a quick trial with what I had within reach. Although, I must admit that the trial one works wonderfully!

Fiber of a Different Kind

This season, I have been tending to veggie plants in pots just outside my back door. I have 2 tomato vines, a bell pepper plant, and a cucumber plant that has a few leaf lettuces sprinkled in with it. They require watering every day, and for the past few weeks I have been anxiously watching a little tomato grow. This past week it started to change colors and I have been anticipating the day I could pick it.

I wish I had picked it yesterday, but I thought that it needed just one more day of vine ripening. This morning I went out to water the plants and found that the little tomato's skin had started to split. I quickly picked it and brought it into the apartment.

At first, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to capture the "perfect" tomato, but I then wondered, what is perfect? I grabbed my camera and took a very imperfect photo of my little tomato.
Then I thought about how I would like to eat it. I decided on a tomato and cheese sandwich. A simple meal that would allow the tomato flavor to shine. I made the sandwich on 12 grain bread with American cheese, mayo and a little pepper. I finished it off with a granny smith apple and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. The tomato was juicy and very flavorful. Nothing like the bland hothouse tomatoes of the supermarket
I apologize to any of you who came here looking for a yarny fiber post and are disappointed, but this was the highlight of my day and I wanted to share. I have been spindling this morning and I will be knitting later, on my Hey Teach. The next post will be back to my yarny endeavors.

Let There Be Spinning!

I did manage to just barely get my entries in for the CJ Kopec Creations July SAL. I had not been able to spin for part of the month because of a flare up in my arthritis of my hips, but in the last few days of the month, I did my best to catch up.

The first is the Navarro colorway. I separated the 3 colors in the batts, a mint, a strawberry and a dark chocolate (reminded me a little of a variation on Neapolitan ice cream). Then I spun them in sequence.

Finally I Navajo plied it to obtain 407 yards of a fingering weight, 3 ply, self-striping yarn. This is the first time I have ever made a self-striping yarn. I think it turned out quite well.The second colorway for the KAL is called Second Chances. I pulled the batts into thick rovings and then spun from that. I attempted to control the fiber color in the drafting to get long color sequences without separating the colors, then Navajo plied it, resulting in 100 yards of bulky weight 3 ply.On August 9th, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Bartlett Yarn Mills open house in Harmony, ME with my mother and sister. I will try to get pics posted from that trip soon.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments that you have kindly left on my blog and for your patience with my infrequent posting.

A blog that I would like to share...

I am beyond words so I will just post the blog link for you to read for yourself, so that you may understand how truly touched I am by it.

Knit One, Spin Two

Thank you.

My hip has been bothering me...

Yes, I over did it a bit while I was in the big city, so my hip has been keeping me from my spinning wheel. That is why I haven't had anything to post for a while. I Know what your thinking, why didn't I use my spindles? Okay, it also doesn't explain why there hasn't been any knitting posted.

I don't know what is up with this sudden lack of interest in much of anything. I have no ambition. I haven't even logged into Ravelry for several days! I am hoping that I will get my mojo back soon. I have tried to spin for short times on my wheel and I have about half a drop spindle full, as well. Also, I have made a couple simple garter stitch dishcloths in medical waiting rooms. But, I must admit that most of my spare time lately, has been on Facebook, playing games. (Farmtown and Bejewelled Blitz are da bomb!)

Since I have been neglecting the blog so badly, I am going to borrow a list of questions from MsKnottyKnits blog to fill out this post. You will learn a little about me.

1. Are you currently in a serious relationship? Yes, with a wonderful man.
2. What was your dream growing up? To be a singer. (I sound like a frog)
3. What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could play the guitar and piano.
4. If I bought you a drink what would it be? A virgin frozen strawberry daiquiri.
5. Favorite vegetable? Tomatoes, but are they a vegetable? Winter squash.
6. What was the last book you read? Knitting Lessons: Tales From the Knitting Path
7. What zodiac sign are you? Sagittarius
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where. None of either.
9. Worst Habit? Just one? Ummm, indecisive?
10. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? I don't drive anymore.
11. What is your favorite sport? To watch, baseball. To participate in, swimming.
12. Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? About others, I am optimistic, but about myself, I am pessimistic. (I am working on changing that)
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Knit, I always have at least a dishcloth with me to work on.
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Wow, I am not sure that I can single out one worst thing...sorry.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you. As much as I love to knit, crochet and spin, I can't coordinate colors. I usually need someone at the store to help me with it.
16. Do you have any pets? No, but I wish I did. *pout*
17. What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? Oh goody, I can't wait!
18. What was your first impression of me? I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, let alone.....sorry.
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Clowns are weird. I was afraid of them as a kid.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I don't care how I look, I would just like to be a healthy weight.
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Conscience.
22. What color eyes do you have? Green, but not a really pretty green.
23. Ever been arrested? Not in this lifetime.
24. Bottle or can soda? Either, but I have stopped drinking carbonated beverages.
25. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? Pay off my medical debt and save the rest for future medical debt.
26. What's your favorite place to hang out? Where ever my family is hanging out.
27. Do you believe in ghosts? I believe in the possibility.
28. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Be with my family, knit, crochet, spin yarn or be on the computer.
29. Do you swear a lot? Not as much as I used to, but more that I should.
30. Biggest pet peeve? When someone doesn't bother to call to let me know that they are not going to show up.
31. In one word, how would you describe yourself? Boring
32. Do you believe/appreciate romance? I believe in romance, I appreciate romance, but do I get romance...well, I've got a good man. :-)
33. Favorite and least favorite food? Favorite? Cheese! Least Favorite? Liver (ewww).
34. Do you believe in God? Most days, yes.

If you decide to post these questions on your blog, please let me know so that I can learn about you too. I will try to get myself back into the crafting groove and post to you about it. Please, stay tuned in!

I won, I won, I won!

I am so grateful for the kindness of my friends. They voted for the yarn that I made in the CJ Kopec Creations June SAL and because of it I won a $10 gift certificate to CJ Kopec Creations! In all fairness, it is the beautiful fiber from there that makes it so easy to make an incredible yarn. Also, there were so many gorgeous entries that I think really deserved to win more than mine.

This is the original blog post of the yarn that I spun for the SAL, if you want to check out the pictures.

If you are a spinner, please check out the etsy store, and then come join in the fun of the SAL. Perhaps you will win too!

Test Knit

I just received a package containing a test knit that I did for designer, Donna Druchunas. The pattern is Monedero from her book, "Ethnic Knitting Discovery: The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and The Andes". She said that the photo shoot is over and included a copy of the book in the package for me.

I must say that this was a little challenging, simply because I had to change the way I knit. This pattern is from the Andean knitting section of the book. They tension the yarn around their neck and then purl from the inside, working in the round. It seemed almost backwards, but as you work along, it becomes a much smoother transition when changing colors in stranded work.

The book is set up in a workbook style and encourages you to learn to work without a line by line pattern. Instead it sets up guidelines and charts, so that you may knit more intuitively. The only thing I would like changed in the book is that it does not have photos, but is illustrated by drawings. Perhaps, having it spiral bound would be helpful too, but I think that of all craft books.

So here is a picture of the drawstring purse, Monedero, made in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport.This is a picture of the Monedero with my Mom. Thanks for posing, Mom!

DIY Saves Money

Since I haven't accomplished much of anything with my knitting, crocheting, or spinning to share with you yet, I would like to direct you to the blog of a genius, in my opinion. This amazing person has made their own wool combs for only $15.00! I am very impressed.

Beth Skwarecki's Science & Miscellanea blog will tell you how, with very detailed parts list and instructions. There is even a link to tell you how to use them after you make them. If I had any wood working skills and tools of my own, I would start making these immediately. Especially, since I have wool comb envy in a very bad way. (hint, hint)

I will try to produce something of my own for my next blog post, but no promises.

Wallet Cards

A fellow Raverler and TKGA member, polycrafty, has developed a wonderful tool for knitters and other crafters who need to keep peoples measurements on hand for projects. It lists the most common measurements needed for a garment or accessory and it is business card sized so you can conveniently keep it with you in your wallet so that you know what you need while out shopping for a new project. Simply fill in the blanks with a person's measurements.

She has set it up in pdf format and is offering it for free on her blog, Unravelling Argyle. You can find a button at the top of her blog that will direct you to the pdf for the wallet cards or just click this direct link.

Bonus: She has also made up a Knitter's Sock Guide that is able to be folded up to business card size, and is also available in pdf format. You will find it available on that same page. It provides those little reminders for the heel turning, gusset, toe decreases, Kitchener stitch that we sometimes need a little help with.

I hope that you find these tools as helpful as I have. Also, I asked her permission to pass this information on to you, so please make sure to give her proper credit for a fantastic idea and for doing the work for us if you pass it on too.

Tour de Fleece

TourdeFleece, originally uploaded by starathena.

I am going to spin in the Tour de Fleece! This will be my first year of this challenge and I am very excited. I will be spinning for Team Plurk.

If you want more information about the Tour de Fleece, please check out the blog, Keep On Knitting In The Free World and the Ravelry group, Tour de Fleece.

If you are a spinner, come join in the fun!

I love BFL!

I have been spinning the June SAL fiber from CJ Kopec Creations and I love it! It is BFL, and I have never worked with that fiber before. It is the softest fiber I have ever felt and it seems to almost spin itself. I must admit that I am pretty darn proud of my finished yarn and I really look forward to knitting with it.

My sister saw it as a single in progress and proclaimed that she really liked it. Since then she has hinted that something made from it would be a great birthday present for her. I have sent her pics of the finished yarn and told her to decide what she would like to have made from it.

Here again is a picture of the fiber that started this spinning project.Then the single as it was being spun.
Here it is, Navajo plied, 275 yards of a heavy-fingering/sport weight yarnI am really looking forward to knitting with this yarn. I am learning so much from participating in this SAL. Just seeing how other spinners work with the exact same fiber and come up with such varied and interesting treatments, is expanding the way I see a fibers possibilities when I look at it. I highly recommend that you participate in a SAL, if you have the opportunity to. The one that I am in, CJ Kopec Creations Ravelry group, starts anew each month, so you can join in the fun too!

Love getting the mail!

Saturday was a very good mail day. Three packages were delivered to our apartment on Saturday! One was from Wonderbook and contained 10 books on baseball. HUH? Okay, that package was for Ray.

The second package is this beautiful and incredibly soft fiber from CJ Kopec Creations for her June SAL. It is BFL! This is so soft that I just wanted to pet it like a new born kitten. I let it caress my face and I started to put a bowl of milk down for it before I came back to my senses and realized that it isn't a pet. I am still trying to decide how I want to spin it.
The third package I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I had ordered from Knit Picks the Comfy worsted weight in the Peony colorway so that I could knit the Hey Teach! sweater that is in Knitty Summer 2oo8. I love that sweater and the Knitting Purls group on Ravelry is running a Sweater KAL and a Summer Hotties KAL that this will qualify for. Plus, there are a few others in the KAL knitting the same sweater so if I need help they will be there for me and visa versa. I was so excited that I let the yarn jump on my needles as quickly as possible. I actually swatched! Gasp! It only took 2 swatches to get gauge and I am using a size 9 circular for this (the pattern calls for an 8). Here is my start, yesterday morning. This is the first time I have ever used Knit Picks Comfy yarn and I must say that I love it. It has a wonderful hand feel for a cotton blend and is draping wonderfully for me. It is truely a pleasure to knit with. This was my progress as a of 2 am this morning on the back of the sweater. Insomnia can be a knitters best friend.I am off to start the lace work on the bodice back. Wish me luck as I have never successfully made a sweater that required seaming or lace work, but I have my KAL mates to help if I get stuck.

A WIP and a UFO

Woohoo! I completed 2 projects today. The first one is a pair of self striping socks that I started for the Ravelympics back in August of 2008 but never finished. They have made appearances a few times in my knitting bag when I thought I would be waiting for appointments and at family gatherings, but they are boring. The pattern is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Sock Recipe (Ravelry Link) and the yarn is Paton's Kroy Sock in the Jacquards Tutti-Fruitti colorway. Endless miles of stockinette stitch, yawn. Now they are done, and I have proof. Ta Da!Magic loop was used, but I hadn't learned how to do 2 at a time back then. Silly me!The next project was just started on May 31st in anticipation of doing a lot of waiting at a medical appointment yesterday. I was correct in my assumption. I almost finished both mitts while there. So it was simple to finish them up today. The pattern is Lacy Fingerless Gloves (Raveled) by Christie Pruitt. They are crocheted in Red Heart Sport in the Aqua colorway and will go with a cowl I knit last winter. (Yes, the arm is a little pinkish. I got too much sun at a weekend BBQ.)I inserted some paper so that it would be easier to see the stitches. As always, I wish I was better at taking the pictures. The true color is somewhere between these 2 pictures.Finally, I received a wonderful little surprise in the mail from a fellow raveler in the RAK group (Random Acts of Kindness). I don't know if she would want to be identified, so I won't. She sent me a Ziploc with assorted buttons in it! I love it. I have already picked out some special buttons from the gift to use in future projects. Thank you for such a lovely and thoughtful gift!!!

It's been a long, long time....

I haven't posted for a while and I am sorry to those who have been wondering what is going on. First, this month has been a little crazy for me because I have had numerous medical appointments that I have been blogging about on my other blog, Beverly's Journey. Also, I haven't been able to upload any pictures for a while. The computer that I use for my pictures died, but now it has been replaced so here we go!

I started these Moonlight Slipper Socks for Knitting Purls stash busting KAL, but wasn't able to complete them by the end of the KAL because a test knit I was working on had a deadline that couldn't wait. I have finally completed them and I must say that they are incredibly comfy. I don't know what the yarn is because it was just left over from other projects, though I suspect the blue is from a Caron One Pound. (I wish I could post a picture of the test knit, but I forgot to take one before I sent it out to the designer. Silly me.)
I started these Crochet Openwork Handwarmers as a simple project to work on at my surgical weight loss support meetings. They are made with Lion Brand Jiffy and are super warm for when I am on the computer or knitting, as my hands always seem to get cold.
The biggest time consumer for the month of May was spinning 1242 yards of 34-36 wpi lace-weight yarn on my Ashford Traditional SD. It was spun from 4 oz. of a merino and silk blend with a small amount of angelina mixed in. This beautiful blend was from the hands of CJKopec and it is her Envious Eyes colorway for her May SAL. (She runs monthly SALs and I encourage you to join in!) I am trying to decide which shawl pattern will it will be worked up into. I have included 2 pictures because I just can't get the color and sparkle to show properly in my photos. The first is obviously in natural light and the second is indoors. The actual color is a little bit of both.

Another thing that took so long about this spinning project was that I don't own a swift or a ball winder so I had quite a difficult process of winding up all this yardage after spinning and setting the twist. I am trying to save up to purchase those 2 items now that I have been through this project. It took me from 11:00 am on Friday until 2:30 am on Saturday to get this wound up with all the tangling that ensued. My only breaks were for the bathroom and meals! I will own those 2 pieces of equipment before I work on a project like this again.

Upcoming, I am awaiting delivery of the June SAL fiber from CJ Kopec Creations and for a Knit Picks yarn package for a Sweater KAL for Knitting Purls. Check back for details now that I can post pictures.

More Goodies!

I have received some more wonderful packages in the mail from my dear friends. I don't know how I will ever thank everyone. I am trying to pay it forward. I recently joined a Ravelry group called RAK (random acts of kindness) and I have choosen a couple of people there to send on some little anonymous packages of love. If you would like to have a nice warm feeling in your heart too, check out the group. Some of the members would just like a post card or a blog comment.

From AkamaiKnitter on plurk I received some beautiful Hungry for Handspun rovings in the same colorway that Jen sent to me. This is makes it even more wonderful, because I can now plan a larger project.The next fluffy delivery came from Hattie. She hand painted this colorway she calls Tie Dye. Isn't it beautiful!Then I got a delivery of books from purlypig on Ravelry! I love books and these are by one of my favorite authors, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I can't wait to start reading them. She also included one of those mini sock blockers (I forgot to take a pic) which I have been wanting.

How Rude of Me.

How very rude of me to get my new toy and then to just leave like that. I do hope that you will forgive me. I can't believe I haven't posted about my spinning since I received the wheel, but when I went to upload pictures, there were a ton of them to weed through. I am going to have to learn better camera skills because I just can't seem to get a good representation of the yarn with my camera. I apologize in advance for the quality of the pics and I will try to do better in the future.

In my last post I showed my first yarn on the new wheel. I decided that I just had to knit with it as soon as it was dry, so I just cast on a few and started knitting. This is what it looked like in garter stitch. I have felted it after the photo was taken, because it was too small to actually be anything and I have always wanted to experiment with felting.
The person who sold the wheel to me was so generous that she included to small balls of rovings in the package, one in a light sage green and the other a turquoise blue. I spun each of them into lace/light fingering weight singles as shown below.
Then I plied them together into a 2 ply yarn somewhere between sport weight and DK weight. I love it.There was a little more of the turquoise blue singles left over so I left them as just that and I will try to find something to do with them.The next fiber I spun was from Sheep Shed Studios grab bag. It is a navy and white wool fiber that I spun and then 2 plied into a thick and thin bulky weight yarn. This was not the very best fiber, but it was pretty good for the incredible price!
When Sheep Shed Studios sent to me the grab bag fiber that I had ordered for the yarn above, they also included a small sample of superwash rovings in a forest green and white colorway. I spun it as a single and then Navajo plied it. It is so soft and squooshy, that I can't stop petting it!
Now this post seems like it is getting a bit long, so I will stop for now. Tomorrow I will post pics of some more nice stuff that has been sent to me by my wonderful, generous and thoughtful friends.

It's here!!!

My spinning wheel arrived on Wednesday. I was so excited that Ray and I opened the box immediately and I stared lovingly at my box full of packing peanuts. Well, that was all that was visible at first, but with diligent fumbling by Ray (I couldn't reach into the depths of the box) we withdrew from the blankety-blank packing peanuts the many parts of an Ashford Traditional SD spinning wheel.

We contemplated the pieces of wood and some metal, the with baggies of tiny oddments, plus a sheet of paper with screws taped to it, and scratched our heads. I went online and looked for assembly instructions, which I found, but could not understand. Then we picked up all the pieces and gently put the back into the box, atop the blankety-blank packing peanuts and decided that I would have to call for help.

The next day my sister came to my rescue. She did most of the work of assembling all the pieces with me putting in my two-cents worth, usually to late to prevent having to dismantle something. Such as realizing after the side rails were attached and the wheel on, that the rails were upside down. I think the most difficult part of the entire process was when sis was trying to get the locking pin lined up in the wheel.

Finally we were able to admire it. I treadled it a bit to try to get used to the rhythm. The drive band kept jumping off the wheel, to which my sister said, "that is an operator issue, my work here is done!". Isn't she just the best sister in the whole world? She certainly is to me!So, I went to the best source of information that I know of for all things yarn, MY PLURK PALS! I told them what the drive band was doing and I got a couple of responses to check my tension, which I tried to do until I realized that I didn't have any fiber on it yet, so that couldn't be the problem. Then Silver said that my wheel may not be lined up correctly with the flyer and winner, winner, chicken dinner, that was it! I made the adjustment and there was no more trouble.

After treadling for a little while longer, I tried to decide what would be the first fiber that I would try to spin. I was having so much trouble with the decision that I simply decided to spin the first fiber that was gifted to me for a wheel warming. That was the mystery fiber that Knitting Dragon sent to me.

It was not easy at first, and it was not looking as good as my first drop spindle yarn, but it was going much faster. As I kept spinning, it started to get a little more even, and not as bulky or awkward. By the time all the fiber was spun up it was beginning to look like my spindle spun yarn! Unfortunately, my legs had begun to swell from not being elevated (I have lymphdema), so I had to stop for the evening.

Today, I re-watched videos on how to Navajo ply (which I had never been able to do with a spindle) and then went for it. Again, it started out really rough, but as I went along it started to become very rhythmic and by the time I was done, I was feeling pretty good about Navajo plying. The final result is not the best yarn in the world, but it is mine and I love it. It is not even and ranges from a DK weight to a bulky weight 3 play yarn. It is approximately 30 yards of yarn.
Now it is hanging to dry in my living room, so that I can look at it. I am trying to decide what little thing I can knit from it as a keep sake. When I knit it up, I will post a picture here so that you can see the grand finally of my first spinning wheel project.

Finally, I can't say enough about the amazing woman who sold the wheel to me and all the trouble she went through to get it to me. She is an amazing person and fellow raveler, and I am eternally grateful to her.

My Plurk Pals Are Amazing!

If you don't know what Plurk is all about, you are missing out on a great group of people. I have over 200 of the most amazing friends on Plurk. Most, but not all, of these friends are fiber fiends like me, but the discussions are not limited to that subject by any means. I have never met any of these people, but I have been a grateful recipient of their kindness, caring, wisdom, laughter and generosity.

Speaking of generosity, they offered their advice while I was trying to decide which spinning wheel would be right for me. They cheered me on when I tried to win an ebay bidding war for a wheel. They consoled me when I lost. They congratulated me when I finally purchased a wheel from a fellow Raveler, and they have been helping me try to be patient while I wait for it to be delivered. Could I be any more blessed?

You betcha! (I can hear the groans) These wonderful people passed my address amongst them and sent me fiber as wheel warming gifts!!! Can you believe it? Each day a little squooshy package has been arriving at my door, filling me with delight, gratitude and an overwhelming sense of what a privileged it is to be able to get to know these incredible people from all over the world. Where else would a handicapped person, who sometimes feels trapped in her own home, get the opportunity to associate in any way with such a diverse, global and yet close group of people? Bonus, they are constantly making me laugh!

Here are some pictures of the wonderful fibers I have received. (I apologize for the quality, as photography is not my thing.) The first picture is of some very colorful mystery fibers from plurk's Knitting Dragon. Yes, I am speaking of that incredible man with the sexy voice from the Sweaters for Dragons podcast fame! Don't forget to check out his online store, Cables & Lace.The second photo is of orange merino with a little bag of black mohair from plurk's kchealy! You can explore her online store and blog, Wool Obsession.
The third and forth photos are of Hungry for Handspun rovings from plurk's Moonlightbaker! You can find her lovely fibers at her etsy store, Hungry For Handspun.
The fifth photo is from plurk's Boutrosbabe. She only lives about 20 miles from me, so I hope one day I will meet her. This fiber is from Ashland Bay, it is merino in the Primrose colorway.The final photo is from plurk's Loribird, whom I suspect of being an organizer. She is also from Maine, so I have hope of meeting her one day too. I wish I could have caught the sparkle in this fiber, to do it justice. It is from Enchanted Knoll Farm, here in Maine. You can also check out Loribird's wonderful fibers at From the Wool Room. I have purchased some sock yarn from her and it is almost as wonderful as she is!
I am at a loss for how to adequately thank each of them. Will you please help me thank them by visiting their online stores and if you see something you like, purchase from them? You won't regret it! Also, if you see the postal delivery person with my spinning wheel, please tell him I'm waiting. Thank you!

Failure

I missed my deadline, again. The ever so formidable Maine Moose Afghan is still not completed and my SIL's birthday has come and gone. I have failed, again. This behemoth of a project is approximately two-thirds completed and I will not quit. She will get this afghan some day. I just hope that she won't have changed her room theme by the time I finish it.

In other news, Saturday I received an e-mail from the person that I have purchased my spinning wheel from, stating that she took it to a packaging-shipping company and it is on it's way. I am absolutely giddy with excitement and ready to pounce on any delivery person who comes within striking distance. Gimme!

I think I am going to work on a 2nd sock today, to see if I can actually complete a project for a change. What are you working on?

Craft Books

This post is just to redirect you to another bloggers post about how books, especially craft books are made versus how they should be made. I strongly encourage you to go to the Knitting Purl's blog, Knit-A-While, read what she has to say on this subject, and please leave a comment. My hope is that a publisher will read her blog and the readers comments, then heed the wisdom to be found there.

I am so excited!!!

I have just sent payment for a spinning wheel! Yes, really! I have been wanting one for so very long and the right one for me was offered for sale by a wonderful person on Ravelry. She has been wonderful to deal with and very generous in the deal as well.

The following information and picture were provided by the seller:

Ashford Traditional SD Double Treadle, plus the original single treadle.

• 4 regular bobbins
• Jumbo set with maiden, Jumbo flyer, 4 Jumbo bobbins, plus a bushing so you can use regular bobbins on the Jumbo flyer 3 Speed Flyer (ratios of 6.5, 12.5 & 17.5:1)
• Original kate (holds 3 bobbins at a time)
• Ashford Maintenance Kit
• Stretchy drive band (about a month old)

This wheel spins beautifully and is super smooth. Double treadle, jumbo set up and 3 speed flyer were purchased about a month ago.She will be shipping it out to me on Saturday and I am simply overcome by anticipation! Okay, I am a little disappointed that the cutie pie chihuahua doesn't come with it, but I will get over that.

It has been an exhausting process of elimination, trying to decide what spinning wheel would become my first, and most likely my only, spinning wheel. I need to thank my plurk pals for their support and feedback during this process, as it has been invaluable. Also, the man in life has been very encouraging and that means a lot to me as this is a big investment for our meager means. I feel that I have made a good choice and look forward to many years of happy spinning. Now I just need to try to be patient while waiting for it to get here.

IS IT SATURDAY YET? ha-ha!