Random spinning

So as I said a few months ago, I've been spinning!  Here's my first handspun sock yarn:

 Which I made into these socks for me:

The pattern for these was Knitty Twist, found at this Ravelry link.

I also made these socks for my co-worker Kathryn from some handspun columbia:

And then, several scarves for my mom, including this one from some roving from Crown Mountain Farms (pattern is Annis, from knitty.com which I think is a great pattern)

And, since I don't have enough pictures in this post, here's some more of some roving that came with a spindle I bought, though I can't remember what brand it was.

Yay!  Check out my ravelry stash for more photos (I'm julene144)

spinning

So I've become a mite obsessed about spinning (as it's my newest hobby), so about 3 years ago I used some birthday money from myself, my mom, and step-grandmother, the lovely Farmor, to buy a Kromski Minstrel from the Woolery! I bought it unfinished, then used Danish oil and steel wool to finish it myself.

This one is of the newly finished treadles and the unfinished wheel

And here's the completed wheel.  The finish has gotten a little redder in the intervening 3 years, but I still love it!

Fortunately for me, the Woolery is about an hour away, and stocks all of the other Kromski wheels. So now I'm in the market for another one, and I'm trying to decide between the Symphony and the Polonaise.

Symphony

Polonaise

 
 To document my notes:

Both have matching specs:

• Wheel: diameter 24" 
• Orifice: height 25" - size 3/8" 
• Bobbin size: full 4oz. - 3 included 
•  Ratios: 8, 12, 16 and 20 to 1 
• Bearings on wheel shaft, bobbins and treadle 
• Leather bearings on flyer 
• Both convert between Scotch tension and Double Drive 

The only difference is in the design, and the Symphony is 1 lb lighter than the Polonaise; 15 lbs vs. 16 lbs. I tried out a Symphony at KSFF and loved the faster wheel (as the diameter is larger than my 18" Minstrel) I do have a larger wheel already (a Canadian Production Wheel), but it needs a little shimming / gluing / something, and I'm considering selling it to have something that I am not afraid to breathe on or have the dogs around for fear of breaking it.

So, if you're in the market for an antique wheel (say ca. 1900), let me know!

Clearly I haven't posted anything in a while, but I need some more "space of my own" so here goes, again. I've been thinking lately about how to reduce my stress. Obviously de-cluttering, both physically and psychologically, helps me manage my stress better, but it never really takes care of everything that's stressing me out. So, I continue to ponder my next exercise plan, and spin, and talk things through with my spouse and a couple friends, and get sucked into yet more stressful situations. Maybe I should just stare at this picture some more, and pretend that I'm there.

While I'm at it, here's a picture of our new dog, Maggie:

I've been spinning some gorgeous rambouillet-targhee cross from the Etsy seller, Ranching Tradition's flock from last year's shearing. The fleece looked like this:

and I'm attempting to spin it like Margaret Stove (whose name I always pronounce in my head the way she says it in her lovely New Zealand accent "Maaa-gret Stove") by washing it one lock at a time. I'm not sure that it's going to make the yarn any better than my usual, but we'll see. It's washing up really nicely, though my zoo thinks it's really fun to chase / eat / play with the staples as they dry.