New To Me Spinning Wheel

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I present to you a HitchHiker single treadle spinning wheel by The Merlin Tree. I was gifted this wheel by mother after she procured it in a trade with her quilt shop coworker. I have been doing my best to research this wheel as it’s a little different than most. It’s a direct drive wheel which means the flyer is turned directly by the wheel as you treadle. Honestly, its kind of an obscure wheel and it doesn’t have a lot resources either from the manufacturer or on YouTube. It has been a little frustrating but I shall persevere.

I have been practicing just treadling on the empty wheel because it is going to take some learned muscle movement to keep the wheel going in the same direction as I start and stop. That is just the ups and down of a direct drive wheel. Just putting your foot on the treadle can move the wheel in a direction you didn’t intend. The brake band also needs some TLC to be snugged up which I am hoping my woodworking father can assist with. I think I may also have to try to fall upon the mercy of the local spinners group for assistance/lessons. Time will tell…

With the wheel I also inherited the spinner fiber stash. In the bin in addition to a knitty knoddy and spare wheel parts was a TON of fiber. I dig through and found llama blends, alpaca blends, romney wool, merino blends and several unidentified fibers. This spinner clearly had good taste.

This all came from a rural farm, so right now it’s living my sub zero garage just in case it has anything other than fiber in there. I’m hoping to zap this with some heat somehow before bringing into the house with my other stash.

I’m interested to if I can become a spinner?

Half Of Another Rainbow

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Look at me following through on plans! I pulled my first finished tube of my Punch Bug Vanilla Socks and cut in my afterthought heel.

I used the leftovers from the first 50 grams to knit this heel. I tried to put the colors where a color wouldn’t touch itself. I also took note of how many grams I need to do the second sock with the color management I have had to do.

I really like how the heel turned out. I have my own “recipe” for an afterthought heel that adds the depth I need by adding some plain rows in to the basic toe shape. I was a little miffed that I JUST missed ending in yellow and a few pops of orange. Oh well!

Happy Knitting!!

Spinning For Socks

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In some of my belated Christmas present, I had 4 ounces of fiber that was meant for socks. It was a nice blend of merino and tencel and I think I can make a 3-ply for some sock yarn. Really focusing on spinning as thin as I can so that my finished yarn is close to sock weight and I have enough for my big feet.

I have very carefully weighed out three matching lots of fiber. I kind of grouped the colors into similar families so each ply will be cohesive (ish) and I’ll get a nice marl in the finished yarn. My back has been acting up so spinning hasn’t been as comfortable as knitting. But slow and steady will win the race!

Happy Spinning!!

Knot In The Rainbow

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I forgot to tell you all that when I was at the doctor this week, I found a knot in my Felici yarn! I know, I know….knots are normal and acceptable in commercially produced yarn. But this knot totally interrupted my rainbow. This color change totally skipped light blue and yellow and went straight to orange.

So I took a deep breath and pulled out from the skein until I got back to a dark blue spot. I kinda had to fudge it since I already had some dark blue stitches knit on but not a full stripes worth. I ended up with a nice hunk of yarn pulled out.

I’m going to continue my sock to preserve the rainbow. I may have to get creative for the heel on this one. I might kick over to the first tube and get the heel installed so I know how much yarn that afterthought heel requires.

I still hate knots. Happy Knitting!!

Knitting And Watching

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I have been having a TERRIBLE time balancing life and work during this financial audit season. It’s my second year as audit lead and we are onboarding a new auditor. There is just so much to do all the time. This means my insomnia has been rearing its head that last couple of weeks.

It’s nearly midnight and instead of tossing and turning in bed I am knitting and watching podcasts. Still plugging away on my mitred square blanket/memory blanket. It is very soothing. All this has taken my pulse rate down considerably already. I think I will do some easy stretches and drink some chamomile tea and try to get some restful sleep.

What do you all do for insomnia?

Paper Gowns and Knitted Socks

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I have reached another adult milestone, my allergies have changed. I have been miserable for months with clogged sinuses and ears. So I am trying a hybrid ENT and Allergy practice. They wanted to test my reactions so I did a full fledged skin test for the first time in 15 years. So there I sat in a paper gown DESPERATELY trying not to itch, so I knit!

I’m still on my second Punch Bug Vanilla Sock. I think *maybe* I have added another color stripe since I last showed you all. But this is my travel purse knitting that only gets worked on outside of the house.

The nurse was very complimentary of my knitting and then exclaimed “Whelp, you are allergic to ALL of Kansas!”. To which I responded, no shit! And she was kind enough to slather me in Benadryl and give me a sample Zyrtec. These socks might see some mileage now that I will be getting allergy shots every three weeks where I need to wait 20 minutes to make sure I don’t die.

Silver linings I guess? Happy Knitting!!

Starting The Second Skein

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I have finally attached the second skein to my Chromatic Yarns ZigZag Blanket!

I am using all Chromatic Yarns DK. The first skein was called Metagaming Pigeon and the Second is called Eldritch Blast. I used Eldritch blast to make a knitted bralette some time ago.

I think the two sets of colors really look nice up against one another. I have a pseudo rainbow type thing planned that will end again with the Metagaming Pigeon color. For some reason my stash had two of the same color so I thought it would be cool to begin and end with matching yarn.

Happy Knitting!!

Slowly Rainbow-ing Along

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Here is an oldy but a goody. My Punch Bug Vanilla socks have reappeared in my craft rotation.

The first sock tube is done and I have the extra yarn tucked in side to keep it from tangling while I work on the second sock. I managed the yarn cakes so that I started from the same color stripe to make the socks match.

Looking at the first one, I am about half way on this second tube. I may push pause and go ahead and cut the first tube and install the heel. I could use some variety in my life, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Lingering Fire

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Spring may start tomorrow but Kansas didn’t get the memo. A fire has been cozy the past several days. I have been feeling the vibes for my Chromatic Yarns ZigZag blanket.

I am just about to finish the first skein and join the next color. I thought I had taken a photo of the fade I had decided on. But I can’t find it anywhere. So I am going to re-lay out the colors and set my new order.

It still takes me a good 35 to 45 minutes to work a full row and return row. So this won’t be done anytime soon but I have the blanket pattern memorized and it’s good easy knitting now. Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: PV Rambouillet

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This beautiful skeins is finally dry! I am calling this my PV Rambouillet 2-ply!

I got mostly a sport weight yarn for this skeins. The total weight is 113 grams but I haven’t drug out my yardage counter to run this through. It’s just pure exhaustion right now with work and I can’t be bothered.

But this skein isn’t getting immediately tucked in stash. I have the urge to make a musselburgh hat with it. Not sure if its enough, but I can always finish with another yarn and have that part be folded on the inside.

For now I’m headed out into the sunshine! Happy Friday!!