It's been a spinny couple of weeks!

First, I threatened my Mazurka with selling it as I'm not crazy about how the tension works - I'm not sure if it's a defect in my wheel or if they all are like this, but then she did this:

Blushing Ewe's "Turquoise Dream" merino/bamboo/alpaca/soysilk

The picture is a bit fuzzy but the single does indeed look soft - I'm loving this first batt from Blushing Ewe, and the Mazurka is spinning really nicely.  Maybe I just need to make friends with her. :-)

Then I threatened the Babe Bulky Pinkie with selling it, as I have too many wheels and I just never spin on it.  Then I took it to my mom's to see if we could make friends, and we did!

 CHF "Steppes Winter" Falkland

This Falkland is really nice to spin, and the BP is doing a great job on it.  :-)

I've also finished the sample on the antique Finnish wheel - she really needs a name, any ideas anyone? - and started a 'real' project:

CHF "Lady Slipper Pink" BFL/tussah silk

I bought this a couple of years ago, thinking I would spin it right up and make something for my rose-loving mother, but of course I got sidetracked.  It's spinning up great on the Finn; I love this wheel! :-D

And I've been spinning the second bobbin on the small Reeves:

CHF "Blue Mountain Coffee" merino/silk

That's spinning along pretty fast too. :-)  I took one of the Babe Reeves bobbins and ground down the front whorl to make it fit this wheel, but I need to grind it down some more to make it fit better.  So glad to have a second bobbin for this wheel though!


I've also been on a spindle-buying spree.  I bought a Tibetan from Neal Brand - isn't it lovely?

CHF "Tropical Water"  baby camel/tussah silk

And some Tilt-a-Whorl spindles!  Aren't they cute?

 l - r: Spindle Pop, supported spindle, mini pinwheel

I asked him to make a supported spindle for me and he did a great job!

 CHF (of course!) "Grapes No Wrath" Wensleydale

I'm not keen on the fiber I'm spinning, other than it's of course dyed beautifully, but it's rather coarse for my taste.  The coolest thing is that I have been spinning with this on my exercycle - I attached my 'spinning spoon' to the front upright on the cycle and it works great!  Now I need to use my metronome because I'm cycling too slowly though.


And last, but not least - I finally finished my e-spinner this morning:

This was made from stuff I had around the house. :-)  I may need to add something to slow it down, but for now a block of wood will probably suffice, especially since I'm planning to use it for plying instead of spinning.

Wow, I must have been busy! :-)

She spins!!

I've cleaned and oiled and waxed the antique Finnish wheel this week - I think she looks a bit better:

And took her for a test-spin with some Corgi Hill Fiber (who, by the way, is having an anniversary sale in her shop!):

She treadles kind of hard, but I'm thinking of adding brass bushings for her treadle bar pins; and the footman needs to be properly tied up - that should help.  And of course she needs lots of oil.

Also, I'm wondering if I may not have the original flyer.  I can't line up the MOA and the drive wheel without some tricks.  The MOA is loose and there doesn't seem to be a way to tighten it under the table, so...

And I added a bushing on the front of the flyer to 'push' it backwards

though it's still not lined up and I have to be watchful or the driveband will come off.  Since I was already planning to attempt to make a new flyer for it since the back tip is still a little messed up we should be able to make a flyer that fits better. I hope.

But she's spinning! :-D

More spinning!

Sadly I've not had a chance to work on cleaning the antique Finnish wheel yet, but I did get some spinning done in the past couple of weeks.  I'm half-done with the merino/silk from Corgi Hill Farm :

"Blue Mountain Coffee"

And I've started the third bobbin of the blue fluff I'm spinning on the Polonaise (and am really hoping I don't have more stashed somewhere, but I think I do - I'm pretty sure I should have ended up with more than three bobbins of this :-/):

 And I also finished the single that was sent with this lovely shorty Glindle, appropriately named "Miss Bitty". :-D

It's next-to-impossible to capture the glass tip with the camera, but it's a lovely translucent dark green.  She's perfect for using with my spinning spoon and a very smooth spinner. :-)

I need to go through my basket o'handspun and start a knitting project - my basket is overflowing.  I probably really need to make a list of what I know I want to do, plus a list of my finished handspun so I have an idea of what I have.  Not enough hours in the day....