Behold, my Ashford Traveller:


I got the wheel last week and I am positively obsessed. How obsessed, you ask? So obsessed that I have actually neglected to crack open Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince since its arrival yesterday. Previously, Harry Potter topped my obsession list, but not this week. This week, I spin. I've got the hang of the thing, I have some new yarns to add to the store today, and I finally made my copycat version of Colinette Point Five and it is in the kitchen awaiting a dye job.

Speaking of stuff to add to the store, the yarn pictured below sold while I was showing it off at the Woolie Ewe to one of the owners before I even had a chance to officially put it up for sale! I am endlessly flattered that Jill loves my yarns, and I think I'll make this one available by custom order over in the store. It's a brown felted grapevine with actual grapes! Well, plastic ones; the kind your grandparents used to have on the dinner table. It comes with a smaller skein of green yarn that can be used to knit matching leaves. Incidentally, this is the first yarn set I spun entirely on the new wheel. Check it out:

I met with the super nice lady at Fibres 4 Ewe up in Richardson and tried out her selection of Ashford wheels. I picked the Traveller; it's just gorgeous and it will be on it's way to me as soon as I give her my down payment. The more affordable Kiwi was a close runner-up, but didn't have an attached lazy Kate or quill attachment. Plus, it just doesn't *look* like a spinning wheel. My fiance and a few friends have all commented that their only knowledge of spinning wheels is what they've seen in that old Rumplestiltskin movie from when we were kids, and I was ashamed to admit that I was just as ignorant as them until my trip to Fibres 4 Ewe. "How does it work?" they'd ask. "I dunno, I think I have to randomly throw straw at it," I'd reply. Getting hands-on time with each of the different wheels was such a big help. The Traditional was the one that stuck out in my mind at first (touted on the brochure as "Your first wheel!") but the thing just wasn't very impressive in person. Awkward and difficult to pedal the single treadle, and more expensive than the standard double treadle on the one I picked. I am comfortable enough, even with the limited time I had on each of them, to say with confidence that if you are considering getting an Ashford Traditional, don't. Get the Traveller, or a Kiwi if you're looking for a great bargain without sacrificing quality.

I also bought my first batch of "good stuff" for spinning with. Black and maroon merino, much softer and silkier than the generic wool I have been using so far. The cheap stuff I've been using has treated me very well so far; I almost feel like I'm cheating on it.

I had planned to have new sets of yarn up for sale on the site this week, but a huge custom order (yay!) and some emergency dental surgery (boo!) has had me totally out of commission. But never fear, I have lots and lots of ideas swimming around in my head for new coordinating yarn sets. I'm getting the mailing list together and will be announcing new additions to the store soon. (Beware, I use the term "soon" loosely.)

I finally got off my duff and posted all my yarns in the store section. Get 'em while they're hot, people! The faster you guys buy up all my stuff, the faster I can afford a spinning wheel... which means I'll no longer be limited to my little drop spindle and I can make bigger, better yarns to sell you. Everybody wins!

I'd also like to give a great big thank-you to PLUCKYFLUFF YARNS, whose new book is fantabulous. I had been playing around with a lot of these techniques on my own, but the new book really helped me put them to good use. If you're a spinner, you need to buy this book right now.

Here's a peek at some of the yarns now available over in my store:

My grand master plan is to approach the owners of the oh-so-fabulous yarn store where I work on Saturdays The Woolie Ewe and ask if they'd be interested in selling some of my yarns there. My back-up plan is to sell them all on this website, where I would get far fewer customers seeing my stuff, but on the other hand I'd get to keep 100% of the profits. I bought a whopping 7 pounds of wool roving, so depending on how much yarn profit I make, I might even be able to afford a wheel instead of this dinky little drop spindle. Not that I have anywhere to put it... on second thought maybe I should just get a slightly bigger/heavier spindle. The one I have now only holds 15 yards of bulky yarn at a time, meaning I have to give up after 15, or wind it onto something, make another 15 yarns, and then spin the ends together. Totally annoying.

	1. 100 yards of my most recent and most novel yarn, complete with metal rings, sequins, & safety pins. This one will probably be up for sale eventually. 2. 15 yds, thick-thin banana split colors 3. 35ish yds 4. 15 yds, this is my failed attempt to copy the green Rowan Biggy Print 5. 200 yds, red tones. Also will likely be for sale.

I've been spinning my arse off this weekend. I'm almost done with my first batch of wool and I'm anxious to buy more. Although I must admit that I'm struggling with the animal fiber vs. natural fiber debate. I'd feel much better about myself if I weren't using fiber from an animal other than my own, but the wool is just so easy to spin and kool-aid makes for a very cheap method of dyeing. I'm hoping maybe if I practice on the cotton some more, I'll get used to it. Anyway, take a look at what I made so far:

	First yarn: 35 yds, self-striping rainbow. I made this one before I knew about the magic of microwaving the dye, so the colors are a little washed out. Second yarn: 67 yds, also striped. I meant for the green to be much more blue. I'm still learning how each dye color behaves. Third yarn: 45 yds, random red tones. This one is my favorite so far.

I've been wanting to invent a pattern for a ruffly scarf for a while. The basic gist of this type of pattern is that you cast on some stitches (I did 100) then you alternate knitting 1 row, then increasing every stitch for 1 row. This gives you a cool ruffle effect, but it also gives you 800 (or, god forbid, 1600) stitches on your needle when you're done. Since I didn't plan very far into the future when starting, I used my 24" US 10.5 needle. I figured I'd just use my double pointed needles on the end to give myself some extra room. Except those filled up too, and I had to add my straight needles to the mix as well. Long story short, I ended up with a hilarious zigzagging frankenstein contraption that spanned across 90" and 8 separate needles. I'm still only halfway done binding off because the UberTight fabric makes my fingers hurt after about 50 stitches. At that rate, it should only take me about 7 more tries to finish it.

I ordered and received my spinning supplies this past week. I got a cheapie spindle and 8 oz. each of cotton and wool, along with a book called Spin It from Amazon. I immediately went to work spinning my first yarn (wool, dyed blue with Kool-Aid) and my second yarn (un-dyed cotton). I found the cotton infinitely easier to spin, but I was much happier with the wool's finished product. The cotton yarn fell apart easily, although I was eventually able to crochet it into a bracelet (The only unexpected breaks happened while weaving in the ends.) The finished bracelet really is a face only a mother could love, but I think beginners are allowed to be naively proud of their first projects.

My supplies:	My first yarn, a 2-ply, chunky wool
The world's smallest cotton hank:	My hideous bracelet: