Secret's Out

Well, that lasted a whole, oh, 45 minutes? I felt really bad about keeping the secret from my mom and felt like I was going to barf. How do bad kids keep secrets from their parents without hurling? I'm sure lots of parents would rather have their kid hiding a spinning wheel than, say, a crack baby. :D



Not bad, eh? It is much easier than I thought it would be. Hooray!

The Secret Spinning Wheel or I Am a Terribly Disobedient Child

Bwahahahaha!! I found an Ashford Elizabeth 1 on Craigslist and went to check it out yesterday. Needless to say, I have no self control and snapped it up for only $100. The seller threw in a bag of some mystery wool and an antique skein winder. Jackpot! She had the lazy kate, too. She couldn't find the 4th bobbin, but said that when she does (she's moving house, so she'll be going through everything), she'll mail it to me. Yay!

So, I'm thinking of naming her Gwen. Why? Because I am a dork. Anyway, here she is!

She's hand painted. Not really my style, but I'm OK with it, I guess. I'd rather refinish her, but then I'd feel bad. Maybe if I get another one.

Here we have an old-timey skein winder. It clicks every 40 rotations. Very handy. It is better than my questionably niddy-noddy, anyway.


I had already spun up about half of the green roving on my spindle, so I did the rest on Gwen. It was surprisingly easy, especially considering that I hadn't even treadled a wheel until yesterday. I was sitting at a funny angle, though, so my right leg is a bit hurty. Meh. I'm over it.

Unfortunately, my mom doesn't think that I should be spending my money on things like badass spinning wheels. Consequently, I was forced to disassemble her and stuff as many parts into a plastic tote as I could. The wheel itself is covered with a towel in the back of my Blazer. I'll take her to my apartment tomorrow and stick her in the back of my closet or maybe the little storage closet. I figure that if I can keep her a secret until after my birthday, I'll be OK. Wish me luck!!

I had my last wisdom tooth yanked on Wednesday. This actually sucks much more than when I had the first 3 done. I've been on a steady diet of Tylenol and cottage cheese since the extraction. Oof.

Anyway, I need to get to packing more junk up. Moving in on the 20th.

Spinning up a storm

Ok, not really, but I have been spinning more than normal. Today (well, I guess technically yesterday) I managed to convince my brother to go with me to a spinning shop my mom told me about. They have spinning classes and the gal said that since I have spindle experience, I could start right out on the wheels! Hooray! I can't wait to pick out a wheel. Even my brother was having fun treadling the different wheels.

I did leave the store with a little fiber. I got ~.8 oz of an alpaca/corriedale blend (a neat shade of blue blended with natural brown, I believe) and 2 oz. of black dyed alpaca. They are so soft and squishy, especially the 100% alpaca. Mmmm. . . Now I just have to fill up my spindle with the stuff I'm working on now before I can start to play with the new stuff. I need another spindle or three. Heh.

The roving I'm working on right now is Sheep Shed Studio mill ends that I dyed with lemon/lime off-brand KoolAid. I showed it to my mom and she asked if it glowed in the dark. I bet that could be arranged somehow! It really is quite vibrant. Here's a terrible pic of the roving.



It is much brighter in real life. I wish we had a good camera. Meh. Also, I've got a pic of my first plied yarn. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome, considering my complete lack of experience and training.



Anyway, that's all for now.