Reeves love

The Reeves spins well, though a bit stiffly as it's still sucking up oil. :-)  DH bought a threading kit and made an upright nut, making the wheel rock-steady as it spins.  And I'm using 8/4 carpet warp for driveband and it's working great.

I put the angora/silk blend on it yesterday and have to be really careful not to spin it too finely.  I don't use double-drive often so it takes me a bit to get the tension right.

Angora/silk:

This seems to be going faster on the Reeves than it did on the Bulky Pinkie - once I get the tension in the right place.

Cleaned-up wheel (and dogs):

I can't get over how the wood glows. :-)   The Polonaise still spins easier, but it's been broken-in for awhile.  I expect the Reeves to be just as easy in a short time - particularly when spinning something with a longer staple.  It was very easy to spin my 'demoing' generic wool in a pretty even thread.  I think I got a really good deal. :-D

Awesome...

SyFy Channel is doing water monsters movies today, and USA will be having Jason Statham movies later. :-D  A great day for spinning in front of the TV!  I'm going to hopefully finish plying the merino/cashmere, because I'm dieing to spin on the Reeves. :-D

I'm going to take the angora/silk off the Bulky Pinkie and try it on the Reeves.  DH made a replacement for the missing upright nut and I've been oiling it all week, so I should be good to go.  It sure is a pretty wheel!

Also, Corgi Hill Farm is doing an Oops! Contest giveaway on Ravelry - go check it out!

Edit: The giveaway is over!  Congrats to the winner! :-D

Oh. Em. Gee.

I whipped up these extra-small spindles Thursday night before leaving for my Mom's - aren't they cute?

I made them for spinning the little batt bits I get from Corgi Hill Farm.  I do need to work on the hook positioning a bit as they tend to wobble some when used as a drop spindle, they spin supported just fine.  I really love the copper spindle - I love copper. :-)

But that wasn't the OMG - this is:

A Rick Reeves 19" oak double-drive saxony wheel in pretty much unused condition!  I stopped in an antique store and almost tripped over it not 3 feet from the door.  It was labeled 'ornamental', so I checked it over pretty well and everything important seems to be there except one wooden nut for the one of the wheel uprights   It may have originally come with a distaff - the only info I could find on this shows that it should have come with one, which I'm hoping I can replace; and it also appears there should have been two other whorls, but I'm not sure about that either.  The leather bearings don't have oil marks on them, including the leather bearings in the wheel uprights.  I'm not seeing any dings or dents yet either, but I haven't started cleaning it.  It's not very dirty, but use some Howard's and lots of oil.

I rigged up a drive band for it, but all Mom had was seine twine so it slipped a lot - but it works!  I can't wait to give it a good spin!

It's been awhile...

But I haven't been doing much crafting so there hasn't been anything to post.  I'm trying to make a dent in my fiber stash but y'all know how well that works. :-/   I did straighten up the guest/craft room a bit, since I couldn't walk through it anymore:

I have been doing a bit of spinning.  I'm still working on the cashmere blend on the Penguin,

 though I don't do it often so it's taking awhile; I'm close to the end of the singles.  I do enjoy that Penguin wheel, even though it's a bit slower than a flyer wheel.

Yesterday I got busy and washed the Tour de Fleece project:

and the silk hankie that I had spun on a drop spindle:

It's really as big as it looks - that was not what I expected to end up with!  My spinning was so uneven with the hankie though I had to do a navajo-ply.  It still feels silky though, and I like it. :-)

And I washed a little batt bite that Corgi Hill Farm sends along with most orders (also spun on a drop spindle):

I 'cheated' and spun both singles on the same spindle without taking the first single off - it works, though I wouldn't want to do it with a larger project.  This went really fast - I don't know how much the bitts weigh but there is not a lot there (and of course I forgot to measure the finished (2-ply) yarn).  I think I'm going to start carrying around a spindle and some of the bitts for those times when I have just a few minutes and a hankering to spin. :-) Hmm... maybe I'll make a couple of tiny spindles - they'd fit in anything then.  Whatever I make with the bitts is going to be really colorful (I'm thinking handwarmers)! 

(basket o' bitts)

I'm still working on the Spindolyn project too, and getting closer to the end for that.

I can't remember what kind of fiber this is other than wool, nor if I was meaning to do a 2-ply or a 3-ply. :-/  Better start taking notes *before* I finish the project!

We got a new internet service provider last week - I don't know if it counts as DSL but I can now watch YouTube like the big kids.  And STREAM NETFLIX!!! which is incredibly awesome.  I need to figure out how to set up the laptop so I can watch Netflix and spin/knit at the same time, without the dog(s) knocking the laptop around. :-D

I have some sewing projects that are temporarily on hiatus, plus some new ones I want to start.  And I moved the Harp to another are of the living room so I'm looking at it almost all of the time now - maybe I'll finish that log cabin project one of these days!