SQUEEEEEE

Screw all that thinking and planning.  I ordered the spinner!

December Goals

Here are my December goals in no particular order:

Spin up:

• Bag of Alpaca
• 1 skein of meriboo
• 1 oz of yak fiber

Knit:

• Finish blanket
• Start and finish Peaks Island Hood
• Start and finish Convertible Mittens
• Work on Handspun socks
• Work on Cashmere leaves scarf
• Finish setup edging of Aeolian

An electric spinner?

When I was researching wheels, I looked at electric spinners too but eventually decided to go with a regular treadle wheel instead.  I'm glad to have made this decision because what I learned about spinning from my wheel is invaluable.  But now that I've been spinning for a while and have found that I can spin for extended periods of time, I am starting to feel the need for an electric spinner.  One of the greatest hindrances I am finding is that while I can spin for a while without my hands getting tired, I cannot treadle for very long periods of time.  I think an e-spinner is the perfect choice.

Now the decision I need to make is do I count down to 25 projects and then order the e-spinner (as a replacement to the Pleo) or do I order it now so it will help me spin up my stash faster.  Thanks to the money I put aside for the laptop I've decided not to get, I do have the funds.

This is the spinner I am thinking of getting:
Hansen Crafts

Plying on the wheel

I finally got the plying head installed on my wheel and it actually quite easy!  I was worried for no reason.  And the plying went so fast!  The only thing is, I put the drive band on the largest whorl (non-spinners: that means the lowest speed) so I don’t think the yarn has enough ply twist in it.  I may have to run it though again.  I’ll wind it onto the niddy noddy first though and see how it came out.  I’m definitely glad I did it though because plying a 4 oz roving took an hour instead of a whole day.

 

The skein itself is very beautiful!

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m going to start spinning the chocolate brown floof next and I’m thinking because of the quantity I have (6 oz) that I may split it into 3 bobbins and do a 3 ply.  My only concern is, what do you do when you run out of yarn on 1 bobbin in a 3 ply that isn’t Navajo plying.  Maybe I should Navajo ply.  Hmmm…must email the spinning genius…that Winter!

Last night's adventures

I gave Ruth the handspun and she absolutely loved it!  we were brainstorming ideas of what she could knit with it and I suggested a small triangular shawl…you know, like the kind I want to make when I end up plying that orange handspun (both bobbins are now full so only the plying remains).  So at some point I’ll be going over to her house so we can go on ravelry and find a pattern she likes.  

Winter brought some more of her handspun fresh off the niddy noddy and omg, she is turning into an amazing spinner!  Her third skein ever is so beautiful – even I can’t spin that well yet!  If she posts pics of it to her blog I’ll link it here so you can all admire the pretty!

The next thing I’m spinning is that beautiful chocolate brown alpaca blend I got from Rhinebeck.  As you can see, it is a floofy bag so spinning it up will free up a lot of space!

I also finished something yesterday with Ruth’s help:

 

This scarf was supposed to be for the OFA charity but I love it so much that I decided to keep it for myself.  I cast on another scarf last night using some more rejects from their originally intended projects but after knitting about 4 inches, I fell in love with that one too! ::sigh:: so I had to put that one aside as well and will finish it later when I have more time.  

 

I started a second scarf last night and this one I’m determined not to like!  Though I may have to rip out the 1.5 inches I accomplished last night to switch to a bigger needle.  I’m very happy for all the stashbusting happening though!

Lastly, I bought Heather dinner last night so she would sew in ends on all the washcloths for me! Yay!  So now I’ve got a large stack of squares ready to go.  WOOT!  Thank you Heather!

Still no Eucalan!

This is getting a little absurd!  I called up the shop and looks like Terri still hasn't printed out the gift cards so I can't get the Eucalan yet.  I don't want to pay for it and then have a gift card just sitting there because i don't want to get more yarn. 

Speaking of gift cards, i still haven't ordered anything with my gift card from knitpicks.  i want to order a bunch of needles but then i'll have a bunch of duplicates and ... sigh ... its all so unnecessarily complicated!

25 FOs to Pleo

I've found my reward!!!  So I've got to finish 25 things (including spinning) to get myself a Pleo!  Starting point is Rhinebeck so I've finished 2 things so far: the granny squares blanket and 1 skein of handspun.