There has been a whole lot of shifting going on at my house this week! Things coming and things going. For starters, I had decided that the light weight loom in the hallway upstairs had to go! We were having some people over, and I really wanted to put the laundry racks up there instead of in the family room. The loom was being way under-utilized at my house, with the 6 other looms in residence, and I just knew that there was a weaver at the center that could put her to work!
She is a sweet little loom that needs a little bit of repair, though not much, just a few things I hadn't gotten around to. I mentioned it at lunch on Tuesday, and Miss Ila chimed up that she would take it and use it for scarves! We settled that I would load the loom up in the pick-up that very afternoon, and meet them ( daughter Ladonna too!) at Miss Ila's house to unload.
About the time I got home the skies opened up, and I phoned to say that I thought it might not be a good idea to try it today. They agreed, and we left it at that. About an hour later, the skies were clear, and I had the loom disassembled, and even though I couldn't get anyone on the phone I took my chances. I got to the house and nobody was there, but I put the loom on the covered back porch, and headed home just as it started to sprinkle again! (I still haven't talked to them, I bet they think I am crazy, but I am just a girl on a mission!)
I also mentioned at the Center on Tuesday that I was thinking about selling my Ashford Traditional, with a few extra bobbins and a lazy kate. Ladonna said that she had been wanting to purchase a wheel for plying weaving yarns together, but she just couldn't justify the expense. So in 2 weeks I will be taking the wheel to the center for Ladonna to try out for awhile to see if it does what she wants it to. I she likes it she will purchase it and if not it will come back home to me, and I could either post it on Craigslist or keep it as a student wheel.
I have also put my Quill wheel for sale on Craigslist and on the spinners marketplace on Ravelry It is a sweet little wheel, but with the 2 great wheels, I don't really need it! It is fun to spin on, and you can spin using either your right or left hand to draw out the fibers, quite versatile really!
You might be asking yourself, "Why all the wheeling and dealing?" Well, it is quite simple really, besides the downsizing of unused items, there is also the upgrading of a certain item. I had been scanning the spinning forums on Ravelry, looking for a wheel more suited to the kind of spinning that I do. I spin fairly fine singles and ply 2 or 3 of them together for the thickness I need. The Traditional is okay for this, just a little slow, and it had developed a small clunk with each rotation. I had tried the double treadle kit, which is supposed to fix that, but that didn't really fit my model for whatever reason, and it did not fix the problem! (I will also be selling that Ashford double treadle kit, as soon as I replace some of the parts, like the footman connectors and the pin for the axle/hub connection.)
I was also keeping an eye on Craigslist, to see what was available within driving distance. I found an Ashford Joy near Ashville, but that was sold by the time I contacted the seller. Then, there was a Kromski Minstrel in Ashville for an unbelievable price! I thought about it and decided to go to the boards on Ravelry and investigate this wheel. Lo and behold, it popped up on the boards with comments like, "I can't believe nobody has pick up this wheel!"
I thought a few minutes, and I responded to the ad by email, to see if it was still available. "Yes" came the reply, call Caryl at ________! I thought about it again, for a few minutes, then I called. The wheel once belonged to Arlene Armstrong, and she used it during reenactment activities in a local fort. She had died and left the wheel to her best friend, who had than passed it on to Caryl.
Caryl decided to sell the wheel when a medical need arouse in her local fiber community, and I am the lucky one who gets to contribute to the cause and take the wheel home! We set up to meet at the Cracker barrel just west of Asheville. I told her I would arrive about 11:00am, and that I would call her when I got there.
It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I roped Lou Ann into going with me. We pulled up at the Cracker Barrel at 11:10, and I was just getting ready to call Caryl, when Lou Ann says, "I believe that is her right there!"
Sure enough, there was a car with a spinning wheel beside it! You don't see that very often! We pulled up and we had the meet and greet, I placed the wheel close to my back seat so that I could try her out. MMMMMMM! She spins like a dream! Whisper quiet, multiple speeds at my fingertips, I am in love! Lena (Arlene) was coming home with me!
We quickly took care of business, cause they had to go take Luna the standard poodle for a walk, and Lou Ann and I had to go sample some Cracker Barrel Breakfast for lunch!
We had planned to go to the Earth Guild before heading home, but there was a huge fair in town, so we decided that we would just have to come back another day to visit the shop, when downtown Asheville would be quieter. We did not feel like fighting traffic and Crowds!
When we got back in town, I dropped Lou Ann at her house and headed home. I have set Lena up in the family room, (no laundry now to clutter up the space! ) I began by oiling everything that should be oiled regularly, since I don't really know how long it has been since she was used. Then I started spinning, and made my way through the various speeds, putting her through her paces so to speak. I need to make a small adjustment to the drive band so that I can use the fastest speed, but other than that she is great. There are a couple of things missing, like the orifice hook and the scotch tension set up, but that can easily be replaced.
She is a beautiful wheel, and I think we have a long relationship ahead of us, demonstrating, teaching, and just plain spinning miles of yarn!
I had to stop spinning to post this before chores and dinner, so I only got about 5 rolags spun, but it was quite the experience. This wheel can spin the flyer so much faster that the Ashford Traditional, that I could almost load the yarn on as soon as I had drafted out a length! With the traditional, I would have to hold the length out there and treadle a bunch to make enough twist to hold the yarn together. (I am sure that with a lace flyer the Traditional would have been much faster, but with the clunk noise, I chose to not upgrade.)
It will probably be tomorrow evening before I get a chance to spin anymore, I can hardly wait!
Until next time, Happy Weaving and Spinning, Tina
About the time I got home the skies opened up, and I phoned to say that I thought it might not be a good idea to try it today. They agreed, and we left it at that. About an hour later, the skies were clear, and I had the loom disassembled, and even though I couldn't get anyone on the phone I took my chances. I got to the house and nobody was there, but I put the loom on the covered back porch, and headed home just as it started to sprinkle again! (I still haven't talked to them, I bet they think I am crazy, but I am just a girl on a mission!)
I have also put my Quill wheel for sale on Craigslist and on the spinners marketplace on Ravelry It is a sweet little wheel, but with the 2 great wheels, I don't really need it! It is fun to spin on, and you can spin using either your right or left hand to draw out the fibers, quite versatile really!
You might be asking yourself, "Why all the wheeling and dealing?" Well, it is quite simple really, besides the downsizing of unused items, there is also the upgrading of a certain item. I had been scanning the spinning forums on Ravelry, looking for a wheel more suited to the kind of spinning that I do. I spin fairly fine singles and ply 2 or 3 of them together for the thickness I need. The Traditional is okay for this, just a little slow, and it had developed a small clunk with each rotation. I had tried the double treadle kit, which is supposed to fix that, but that didn't really fit my model for whatever reason, and it did not fix the problem! (I will also be selling that Ashford double treadle kit, as soon as I replace some of the parts, like the footman connectors and the pin for the axle/hub connection.)
I was also keeping an eye on Craigslist, to see what was available within driving distance. I found an Ashford Joy near Ashville, but that was sold by the time I contacted the seller. Then, there was a Kromski Minstrel in Ashville for an unbelievable price! I thought about it and decided to go to the boards on Ravelry and investigate this wheel. Lo and behold, it popped up on the boards with comments like, "I can't believe nobody has pick up this wheel!"
I thought a few minutes, and I responded to the ad by email, to see if it was still available. "Yes" came the reply, call Caryl at ________! I thought about it again, for a few minutes, then I called. The wheel once belonged to Arlene Armstrong, and she used it during reenactment activities in a local fort. She had died and left the wheel to her best friend, who had than passed it on to Caryl.
Caryl decided to sell the wheel when a medical need arouse in her local fiber community, and I am the lucky one who gets to contribute to the cause and take the wheel home! We set up to meet at the Cracker barrel just west of Asheville. I told her I would arrive about 11:00am, and that I would call her when I got there.
It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I roped Lou Ann into going with me. We pulled up at the Cracker Barrel at 11:10, and I was just getting ready to call Caryl, when Lou Ann says, "I believe that is her right there!"
Sure enough, there was a car with a spinning wheel beside it! You don't see that very often! We pulled up and we had the meet and greet, I placed the wheel close to my back seat so that I could try her out. MMMMMMM! She spins like a dream! Whisper quiet, multiple speeds at my fingertips, I am in love! Lena (Arlene) was coming home with me!We quickly took care of business, cause they had to go take Luna the standard poodle for a walk, and Lou Ann and I had to go sample some Cracker Barrel Breakfast for lunch!
We had planned to go to the Earth Guild before heading home, but there was a huge fair in town, so we decided that we would just have to come back another day to visit the shop, when downtown Asheville would be quieter. We did not feel like fighting traffic and Crowds!
When we got back in town, I dropped Lou Ann at her house and headed home. I have set Lena up in the family room, (no laundry now to clutter up the space! ) I began by oiling everything that should be oiled regularly, since I don't really know how long it has been since she was used. Then I started spinning, and made my way through the various speeds, putting her through her paces so to speak. I need to make a small adjustment to the drive band so that I can use the fastest speed, but other than that she is great. There are a couple of things missing, like the orifice hook and the scotch tension set up, but that can easily be replaced.
I had to stop spinning to post this before chores and dinner, so I only got about 5 rolags spun, but it was quite the experience. This wheel can spin the flyer so much faster that the Ashford Traditional, that I could almost load the yarn on as soon as I had drafted out a length! With the traditional, I would have to hold the length out there and treadle a bunch to make enough twist to hold the yarn together. (I am sure that with a lace flyer the Traditional would have been much faster, but with the clunk noise, I chose to not upgrade.)
It will probably be tomorrow evening before I get a chance to spin anymore, I can hardly wait!
Until next time, Happy Weaving and Spinning, Tina
3 comments:
I'm not surprised to hear that you got that much spun so quickly! That little wheel will be a joy to use! It was a great day.
A beautiful wheel. It was waiting on you to purchase it.
lovely wheel :) i have a kromski sonata and love it :) if you have even the slightest trouble do not hesitate calling new voyager tradeing(all kromski wheels in the US are supplied wholesale through them) they have the most awesome customer service!!! i have called twice. once about my footman and once about a bearing. they will tell you how to fix anything and will supply any part necessary. happy spinning!
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