that hat gets around

there it is again...

The good the bad and the maybe not-so-ugly..

Which shall I start with? I'll go with good. You are welcome to read out of order though!


The Good

I recently finished my handspun handwarmers and I love them. I bought a silk hankie from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks last year at Stitches West and it sat in my knitting box untouched until sometime last fall. I spun it using a bottom-whorl spindle my dad made for me. It was a great first drafting experience since the fibers were so long.

I knit 3x1 ribbing tubes with slits for the thumbs and I think the fabric came out really nicely even though my spinning is far from even.



The whole experience really helped prepare me for an actual spinning wheel and probably contributed to my immediate enjoyment of the whole spinning process. We know where that story leads...

The Bad

I guess I got a little over-zealous after the spinning class I took a few weeks ago and I started looking around for a wheel. Its a large investment for those of us with an almost-livable income so I wanted to at least make a well thought decision. With a little help I found a few places where used spinning wheels were being listed online: kbbspin.org a free website to post ads on and a yahoo group called "spin-sales."

And then I found a Suzie... A green Suzie at that. For a price I could afford/justify! As you might imagine, there was no going back.

Im not sure why I fixated on this particular wheel but I just seemed to really like it. So I went for it and arranged to purchase the wheel and have it shipped from Florida.

So why a photo of a severely compromised cast metal part? You can probably put together your own story from there. The wheel was packed and shipped and insured by UPS (for $120 total..) and the day it was due to arrive came and went. I called and they started an "investigation" to look for it because apparently they had lost track of the (gigantic) box. On Friday the box finally arrived, but Suzie was not well inside.

That metal piece is the connector from the drive post attached to the left pedal to the wheel. The bolt is sheared and the casing is cracked. I havent calculated the force necessary to cause such damage but I dont think it could be done without dropping the box some large distance and having it land directly on the piece.


And thats not the only damage....


The board the pedals attach to is split all the way across. I guess theoretically these pieces are replicable so long as the factory in New Zealand could send them but I worry that there is other damage that is less visible.

Tomorrow UPS will file an official claim and we will proceed from there. The lady who sold me the wheel has been exceptionally kind and helpful through this whole process which has made things better but not removed the sick feeling in my stomach when I think about what must have happened to the box to cause so much damage. I think the end will bring me back to where I started, with all of my money back but no spinning wheel. That also makes me sad since I doubt it will be so easy to find another Suzie at that price. In any case the whole process involved too much drama and I dont think I will be ready to try again for quite some time.

The Not-So-Ugly

In the mean time I borrowed Gen's Lendrum and had a go at spinning some more fiber. (I still enjoy that part) I had a lot of trouble getting it to go fast enough while I was plying so parts are a little underspun- does anyone else have this problem? Maybe I am just too impatient, Im not sure. In any case I like the way the Lendrum looks (and its awesome to be able to borrow it - thanks Gen!) but I dont think its the right wheel for me.

letting me down

Its been a frustrating week around here and although none of my problems are life-threatening (or even really bad) they sure have managed to bring my mood down. There has been a lot of drama round these parts lately (other people have real problems i wish I could fix)-- its about time things started looking up for everyone.

Culprit #1: UPS
Im pretty sure they have lost a box** on its way to me that was fairly precious. Its insured and technically replaceable but after the emotional rollercoaster im not sure im ready to invest in another attempt.
**Update: They found the box but the contents are severely damaged. I imagine that might be why they "lost" it. There are sheared bolts so some serious dropping must have been involved....

Culprit #2: Stanford's ******* Coach
He has been disrespectful and just plain not nice.

Culprit #3: The Internet
I just want to buy a pair of shoes! I know im picky but there is the whole internet out there-why cant i find what i want in my size?

ack!

I wasnt expecting to see this...

My super bulky cabled hat looks so new!

Traveling Knitting

This weekend Nick and I finally went on our "New Years" camping trip in big sur (only a few weeks late). My knitting came too and this portrait of a sock in progress (superwash merino dyed by Karrie, 1x3 seed stitch ribbing) was taken from our super awesome cliff-side campsite in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. There were bunches (or perhaps, pods...) of Gray Whales hanging out just off the point and I even saw a tail!

More photos of the trip on my Flickr page.

I also noticed that a photo I took of Nick and I on Pfeiffer Beach looks just like one from our trip 3 years ago.... (im even wearing the same jacket and hat). I guess I dont change that quickly.

its almost like yarn!

I took a beginning spinning class with Carmen on Saturday at West Valley Aplacas and it was really fun. I even made a fiber product that is sort-of almost-like yarn! The class was so much fun that I have spent the rest of the weekend thinking about buying a spinning wheel. It really is a dangerous situation.


A couple that was also in the class brought some fiber from their angora goat Lucile and I tried spinning a bit of that. It went pretty well but then I tried to Navajo ply it and that was a bit of a disaster.... The fiber is really shiny though!

A while back I spun a silk hankie using a drop spindle my dad made for me. I found it slow and difficult but I guess in learned something in the process. I found spinning on the wheel SO much easier. It was actually enjoyable!


Oh, and spinning wheels... Man, they cost a lot. You could buy a ridiculous sewing machine for the cost of a spinning wheel. but yet....

I would want a smallish one and not *too* expensive. Folding would be nice but just for storage and not for carrying it around. Im pretty sure I want a double treadle but Im willing to be convinced otherwise. I used an Ashford Kiwi for most of the class and that went pretty well. At the end I tried the Joy (single treadle) which went ok with the Mohair until I tried to Navajo ply and then I had all kinds of trouble getting the wheel spinning the right way which resulted in lots of tangling. Most of the wheels out there are still sight unseen as Pat at West Valley Alpacas had only Ashford wheels and Karrie has a Lendrum but I am intrigued by the Majacraft Suzie. Maybe not $630 worth though... Hopefully I can either talk myself out of buying one at all or try a bunch out at Stitches West.

In other more productive news I have blocked and sewn pockets into my giant orange cardigan. Im about to order a zipper for it too. Yay!

View from my sick bed

I had the stomach flu last week. Eyuck.. Anyway in the moments when i wasnt feeling like death I was actually enjoying the view from my bed.



You know those people who live in glass houses? Well that's us. And it can be damn sunny. Most of the time the sun is really wonderful but occasionally, like when you need to lie in bed all day, its a little too intense.



A while back I tried to fix the direct-sunlight-in-my-eyes-while-lying-in-bed problem by sewing a canopy for the bed. Its a little like if we had a four poster except without the four posts...



I bought 5 yards of fabric on sale at Ikea for $0.50/yd and used the hemming foot on my sewing machine to finish all the edges. Then I sewed "walls" on a few sides of the "ceiling" where the sun can potentially infiltrate the sleeping region. I mounted hooks on the wall above the bed and sewed loops in each corner to make the canopy removable. So far we enjoy it too much to take it down but it is always an option and takes no time. The third corner is tied to a nail on the wall with an adjustable line (truckers hitch anyone?) and the fourth corner is held up by a lamp which is in turn stabilized by the programs from the 2005 and 2004 AGU meetings. Those damn books had to be good for something!

Someday maybe ill make a more permanent corner-holder-upper but for now its doing a great job helping me sleep a little longer...