Houston we are good to go!

Monday, August 27, 2007

So I took my wheel in today, to Paradise Fibers, and Bill the owner checked it out all over. He said that after talking with me that he expected a much older wheel. Apparently some people bring in these ancient ones that are in no way use-able. Anyway the good news is it's working just the way it is. He said he thinks that a previous owner left in in the sun or something which warped the wood a bit. But it's nothing serious. It's not going to interfere in my spinning. And that would be why it looks like it's wobbling I guess. Anyway, I've been getting used to it and starting to really catch on. Once I get going I can spin for a long time. It's only when my laceweight breaks that I have trouble. I'm still perfecting my joins. With my spindle it wasn't an issue, but I'm working on it. My merino has been too slippery yet, so I'm using the fiber that Lori gave me with the wheel and it's working out well. It's very long staple and sticks to itself well. So it's good practice fiber. Here is a picture of what I've spun so far. You can see some thicker spots there on the left, but for the most part it's pretty thin. I love this soooo much. Also when I do use my merino I get a much more consistent thickness because it's much easier to draft. I can't wait till I am good enough to use my pretty roving! Ooooh which reminds me, here's that roving I bought the other day. I'm tempted to go buy the rest of it too....Isn't it friggen drop dead gorgeous??? I have some more on the way from Copperpot. In celebration of the wheel. I'll show you when it gets here! I still have two other rovings to spin from her too. I just don't want to waste my pretty rovings by not being good enough yet, ya know? But I'm anxious to spin them. Oooh boy, another addiction...

Today after getting my wheel checked I spent a couple hours hanging out with my dad. It's nice to have him in town, we don't often get to talk. Usually when he visits it's only for a few days and he comes out here one day to see the kids, and that lasts maybe two hours. So we hung out in his hotel room and just chatted about whatever. He's coming out in the morning to see the babies, and then I'm taking them in to town on Thursday to see him again, and we'll go to the park downtown. There's a carousel and he likes to take them on it.

I started a new pair of socks, the pattern is Zephyr. Melissa and I are doing them together. I like them but my yarn-overs keep disappearing. I'm debating frogging to knit the stitches around them through the back loop...it's seriously bugging me that much. Anyway it's a super fun and easy pattern. The first pic is more accurate color, the second one shows off the pattern.I'm also going to start my twisted flower socks. I'm excited about those, I just know I'm going to need to concentrate on them. I also have plans for quite a few other sock patterns, including Pembrokeshire, Hedera, Cablenet, Mad Color Weave, Clessidra, Anastasia, Pomatomus, Snowflake Lace, the Seduction socks from IK, and not to mention that I have a second monkey to knit...I don't know why I've put it off, it's such a fun pattern. Maybe because I'm debating frogging and knitting on smaller needles. They would fit better if I did...

I wonder if I need more sock yarn... ;)