A spinning we will go....

Look what followed me home this time!

 This great wheel was originally from upper New York state; we don't have any other info than that.  It is *HUGE*, and I'm going to have to totally re-arrange my upstairs craft/fiber room.  Luckily I can take my time doing the rest of the room after making a space for it last night.

(With the Polonaise for size contrast.)

 

 (We're slightly out-of-focus this morning!)

I test-drove it this morning:

(The grey is mine; the brown was already there.)

I need a lot of long-draw practice, and hand-carding (:-P) practice, but I'm able to make (probably over-spun) yarn. :-D  Maybe I can trade in my current hand cards for for more comfortable cards and I won't mind carding so much....


The Reeves is spinning wonderfully, and I'll be spinning on it next this morning.  And I think I'll spin on the Polonaise a bit today too; I think she is feeling left out lately. :-D

Wheee...

I spent most of yesterday spinning on the Reeves, off-and-on.  Since I'm having a thumb/tendon issue in my hand I had to do quite a bit of predrafting.  But half of the angora/silk is spun:

And I put a Babes-made Reeves bobbin on and started spinning something a little easier, for a break:

Undyed BFL.  Spinning is smooooth, and the Reeves is starting to get a bit more broken in.  It's getting easier to treadle, and it's more obvious when it's oiling time now.  Oh and I bought a Reeves distaff from a very kind Raveler that almost matches. :-D

In non-Reeves news - lookee here!!!

Look at all that yarn!  That is the merino cashmere that I have been spinning on the Penguin since forever.  Though it's a bit periwinkle-ish, I loooove the yarn.  It's very soft and drapey.

I was going to work on my pvc great wheel today, but time has gotten away from me *again*. :-/  Maybe this week.  I hope.


Oh I even started a knitting project - a loom-knitting project, hoping it would be easier on my thumb/tendon issue(s).  I've only done two rows so far, so there is nothing to see, but I'm using my cabled yarn so it's my very first handspun project. :-D

Now that's a spinning workshop!

As I previously mentioned, I had a workshop with the great Patsy Z. last weekend.  She is such a wonderful teacher!  (And no snide comments about my Babe, either - she only had good things to say about it.)

It had originally been a silk workshop and a novelty yarn workshop, but she changed it at the last minute to all novelty with a bit of silk.  Even though I have no interest in novelty yarns, I had a great time and I'm sure learned more than I realized.  My best-looking yarn?  Boucle, because I do not like boucle, no way no how. :-) 

The slub yarn was kind of fun, 

and I may actually do that - maybe.  We also did a cable yarn, which I don't consider novelty but YMMV.

(Guess I should have taken a "Using your digital camera" workshop - wow those are bad!)

There were several other yarns - Lopi-like, core-spun (actually I'm still not finished with that one), knotted, and more; but they didn't photograph well. 

I still need to finish the core-spun, and wash the boucle and core-spun, but I was able to keep up until the very last - carding the mohair for the boucle, which was the second-to-last yarn, really slowed me down.  I need to go over my samples again, and match everything up.  There was a lot in a short time!

A sewing we will go...

So I took Friday off since I had a spinning workshop with the great Patsy Z. this past weekend, and spent the day sewing.  The first item I made was a little wallet from this tutorial.  It as so easy!  And it went quickly!  And it looks good!!

Except for the elastic I used to keep it closed - it's a little too old so not too stretchy.

Then I started on a pouch for my Kindle, using an old pair of jeans.  Since I was winging it, it didn't quite turned out as I wanted it to, and I had a few difficulties (I could not completely catch the strap for love nor money, and it's shorter than I wanted :-/), but I like it anyway.  And I still have the other half of the jeans to make another that will hopefully be better. :-D  If there is interest, I will post what I did. 

This one will probably end up being a bag for my tiny spindles. :-D