The call of the wheel

I have a NEW WHEEL! She is an Ashford Traditional, single-drive with a double treadle (I know, Alden Amos claims a double treadle is unnecessary unless there is something wrong with your legs, but I like it.) My first wheel is a Louet S 17 kit that I proudly put together myself. I like that wheel, but when I treadle I have to put my left foot on the bottom of it so it doesn't move, and it gives me shin splints if I treadled too long! So, only having ever spun on an upright style wheel, it seemed like a double treadle would be the way to go. I do like it, I am stressing each leg equally, and my shins haven't hurt at all. The traddy has higher ratios than my other wheel, it doesn't make this amazing squeak that hindered my spinning after the children were asleep, and it's a thing of beauty. In my mind, the picture of the wheel is in some bucolic setting... rather than my house. Please use your imagination and create a meadow in the background with a few sheep grazing about and minding the shepherdess.



I've spun half my October fiber from Spunky Eclectic on the traddy. The lazy kate that came with the wheel is not tensioned, so I'm trying the re-loading of the bobbins before I ply so I won't have the tangled mess I did last time. Yikes! I was too excited the first time, and decided to ply beyond a reasonable hour for me (the clock strikes 10 pm and I turn into a pumpkin). I was plying tired, people, never a good combo. There was cussing, tangling, and general crankiness. The yarn doesn't look too bad though. I want the yarn to ply, not one strand twist around the other, and I only manage to do that successfully about half the time. Sigh. I'm reading Alden and following all the instructions carefully. I'll let you know how it goes.




The silk pouch is finished. I didn't do the i-cord drawstring because of the unevenness of the yarn. I did i-cord straps for the Himalaya Tote with the Mango Moon recycled silk and I did not have a good time, so I decided to use a more knitter-friendly drawstring method. I think it works fine. The only problem is that I cannot give an empty pouch as a gift to someone. Maybe chocolate inside?



Tonight I'm going to spin, of course, and work some more on various socks. Sounds lovely.