In't she cute!?
This was Joy's first real Halloween, she was too young last year to really get into it, but boy she was plying that basket this year! She knows what candy is now!
I swear I can sit across the room from her and rattle a candy wrapper, it doesn't matter what she's doing, she will bee-line to me to find out what I've got. Oh, she is a 'Bat-arrina' by the way :) It even had little gloves, but she wouldn't wear them.
Nana and Joy at Nana's house. We always go there for Halloween. Living out in the sticks we have never gotten any trick or treaters, so we don't decorate, and the pumpkin we carve always goes on Mom's porch. She is a holiday Hero, always has her house decorated for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Oh, can't forget Easter!
We had kilbasa, fried cabbage and home made mashed potatoes for dinner.
Goodies!
I've been plying my trade, which could be the reason I'm growing again. I can't believe how fast I put on weight in the winter!
The fiber above is the alpaca bond blend I talked about a couple of posts ago, the yarn below is a better color of the yarn also from that previous post, I like this one better, shows the truer color.
And I finally finished spinning and plying the alpaca blend (thank you Eli the puppy)
New Goodies!
Have you ever heard of
Stansborough Grey? Stansborough Grey is a breed of sheep, only found in New Zealand, there are only about 1000 of them and they all belong to the same farm. If you haven't looked up, you should (or just click on the name :)
I regret to say that I let my uncontrollable urge to have some of this fiber get in the way of my better sense that told me it was too expensive. But, I bought it, its here and it is delectable! I can honestly say this wool is like nothing I have ever put my hands in. It is silky soft, to the point where you're really not sure you're touching anything at all. There are a couple of negative points (though I wont let them stop me from processing this fiber), there are second cuts all through what I've handled so far. If you read the website, you'll know that all of this wool is actually meant to be commercially processed. So what I don't understand, is what do the commercial processors do with all those second cuts? From what I've played in so far (and I just got it today, so I haven't gone through very much of it) I will lose a good 40% of this wool, if not more, because where there are second cuts, the staple length is often cut in half (at 3 to 4 inches, that don't leave much!) so I lose the lock too. Ah, well, such is life! I can see why they chose it to grace the backs of movie stars though. Oh my my!
Yesterday, this arrived from the Netherlands!
I am now a two-wheel spinner! Although I haven't quite gotten the hang of the Moswolt Hammer Wheel yet, I feel confident that we will be able to come to an understanding soon. Where I have always thought of my Joy as a girl (the name not withstanding, she is rather petite), the Hammer is definitely masculine. He pulls like a mule team on the draw, so we have some issues to 'hammer' out hehe.
This is one of the reasons I wanted this wheel; see the size of that bobbin??? My Joy is supposed to hold 4 ounces; I'm lucky if I get 2.5 on it, and even then I have to split it because it wont all fit back on the bobbin plied. But this baby! He holds 12 ounces! I can see why some people have bought this wheel just for plying, but I would love to be able to spin that much at one time!
If anyone anywhere sees this sometime in the future and knows anything at all about the Moswolt Hammer Wheel, please leave a comment so we can chat. There is precious little on the internet about these wheels (in English or Dutch) and it would be wonderful to find out more about them. Near as I can tell, the company quit making them in the '80s. To be honest, I am not entirely convinced this one is completely genuine. The flyer is new, that is for sure and made (even though it is well made) from ply wood and I am positive the bobbins are replicas. The body seems to me to be original, but what would I know? The whole thing could be a replica and no one this side of Deutschland and 1980-something would know the difference!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Cheers!
4 comments:
Well, he's not silver, but you could name him "Maxwell," Max for short...
It looks like a bobbin lead wheel, like a Louet (also Dutch). They do pull like a mule. Take the tension thingy (whatever it's using) completely off. If there are hooks on both sides of the flyer, you can "lace" the yarn back and forth across them to slow down the take up (the hooks have to be on the same "face" of the flyer - you can move them if they aren't).
I always laugh at the manufacturer's claims of how much their bobbins will hold! Get real, people!!
Saw you called last night, I'll call you later!
First of all, I want to say that Joy is adorable. You can post pictures of anytime you feel like it, in my book. The comment from Laura makes me realize how far away we all are. I wish our tribe could have a spin in together, just once.
12 ounces?!?! Oh how nice that would be!!!
I used to have a Hammer wheel and mine pulled like a Mac Truck! :D Took a long time to figure out why...
The drive band should be just barely tight enough to turn everything. I wanted my orifice as high as possible and adjusted the maiden up so that drive band would twang! Bad move on my part. Check to see if you can adjust the height and bring it down to where it doesn't turn the bobbin then adjust it back up incrementally until the bobbin starts turning. It becomes an incredible sweet wheel then.
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