Squeeee!!!!!!!

Because sometimes there is nothing better to say. Just wanted to quickly post about my new wheel. This weekend my family and I traveled back to Atlanta to purchase my second wheel. I had a second wheel, but with being in a small house I really needed to something that was good for both bulky and thin in one wheel. So here we have the Fricke Double Treadle.


I read tons of good reviews and talked with fellow fiberista KnittinKbyAB aka Adrian. She was very sweet and answered all my questions. This is my second "sight unseen" purchase. I know that people always say you should try your wheels first but that's not always possible. However, I really believe you can at least get a really good start if you do your research. Sure, if you can try before you buy... totally do it. If you can't, just ask around and make sure you are getting well balanced opinions regarding what matters to you in a wheel. (If your new there are tons of places for advice, one that I just ran across via Ravelry is Abby's Yarns. She hits on several great points, especially for the newbie wheel buyer.)
I'm really excited. I have a few knitting projects I am working on but a couple of them will be taking a back burner so I can get more spinning in!

Ashfords, Alpacas and AlpacaFarmGirl!

Wednesday I took a trip with my husband to Montgomery, AL to meet the FABULOUS Katy from AlpacaFarmGirl.com so that she could purchase my Ashford Country. It was quite easy to get there even though my husband and I got lost on the way back home. We had a great time meeting Katy and I got to hear all about alpaca raising on her farm. Afterwords I even convinced my husband to seriously consider alpaca farming as a future option. (Although sometimes I'm not sure how much is convincing and how much is smiling and batting my eyes..... j/k)

Part of the purchase was the exchange of these wonderful, soft and gorgeous fibers! I got a little sample of 5 different alpaca fleeces that Katy so lovingly raises. Did I mention they were soft. I love soft fibers and these are soft... it makes me feel like the merino top I purchase is second rate. I totally want to roll around in these fibers.

Here is a close up of a little tuft from Luminescence:


Its a silvery gray color and I think its my favorite color from all the picks. I keep wanting to dig my nose in and rub it all around... don't worry, I haven't.... yet..... but it does make me want to grab up my handcards and brand new spindle and take it for a test spin. This is lovely fiber and I would totally suggest ANYONE purchase alpaca fiber from Katy whenever they have a chance. Did I mention it is soft?

Join in the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival here!

When all else fails....

Do a picture post. For some reason I've been feeling kind down so I will just show off pictures of the things I was working on lately... Enjoy!








I will be at the last Wesleyan Market of the season this Saturday, October 3rd 9am - 1pm. If your in the Middle Ga area, stop by and say hello!

Protege and Knifty Thrifties

Yesterday I didn't get much spinning done for the September Challenge. What I did do was spend some time attempting to teach my son how to spin on a wheel. He previously tried spinning on the spindle which was moderately successful. We both tend to have short leashes on failure and frustration so the spindle went to the wayside. However, the other day he expressed an interest in learning to spin on the wheel. So yesterday we worked a little on treadling and then on trying to add the twist to the fiber. (Okay, we actually did some "drafting" but we will have to come back to that later.) At the end I had him practice his treadling some more. 30 -40 minutes was all we spent working on it but we will try again today. Short lessons are definitely best for our collective temperaments.



Outside of the yarn challenge I wanted to share my recently thrifty finds. Okay Okay... really its another eagle-eyed husband find and some books. While running some errands we stopped by the local Goodwill in town to see what type of items they had available. As we were passing by the normal section of goods my husband turned me into an aisle and said "Look, isn't that one of those knitting things?"



Sure enough he had found a Knifty Knitter Loom at the Goodwill. Even better, it was only $2 bucks, the complete loom set and came with instructions. After securing our purchase, we moseyed over to the GoodBooks Cafe to browse. I went to my normal craft and hobbies section but didn't expect anything. Usually the books in the craft section are old and not very useful but I got a great surprise this time. Two relatively recent knitting books in hand and a knifty knitty loomy thingy. Not sure what to do with the loom since I know how to knit already but I always wanted one so... there you have it. A little spinning, a little knitting, a little reading and a little thrifty adventure.


Come Join the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Fun at AlpacaFarmGirl.com.

I need help!

And no, not just mental help. Can anyone tell me where to find/buy another slide hook for the louet s51? I was spinning Sunday night and it just snapped!

It looks like this:









Any help is appreciated just comment below!
(Seriously, the first person who can provide me with one or tell me where to find it will get a skein of handspun if you want. I needs my wheel!!!!!!!!!)

Got it: emailed to Louet and they are sending a replacement under warranty. The piece is called a flyer slider and a normally costs $3 a piece.

Starting off Right

This is the beginning of a new week. With each new week there is always a new challenge to undertake, a new obstacle to get through or a new opportunity to consider. The beginning of this week has bought about excellent things for me.

For instance, today was our monthly spinning group. I enjoy this immensely for multiple reasons. One being that we get to sit and talk fiber stuff with no odd looks. I'm sure anyone with a hobby knows the look I'm talking about. That's right the one were people look at you like "Do you ever stop talking about XYZ?" Well, NO as a matter of fact I do not, especially when I'm with a group of fellow spinners/fiber artists. That being established, another great thing about going to the spinning group is show and tell. Okay, no real telling just lots of oohing and ahhing. Then we spin, sometimes with knit, sometimes we just sit and talk.

So what makes this meeting so much more excellent then past meetings. Well, two things. First, I get to borrow another spinning wheel to see if I like it better than the Ashford Country. My main problem is that I like any wheel better than my Babe DT right now. That wheel has taken to squeaking all the time. I have oiled every part that I can think of in an attempt to make it stop or to lessen it. The best I can get is no squeaking but lots of creaking. I'M AT MY WITS END!
So today I got to borrow a Louet S51 spinning wheel. If I like it I can buy it from my fellow spinner. If not, I can buy the Ashford Country. (Really, the plan is to convince my husband to just let me buy both. They serve two different purposes and would be really useful.)

The second awesome thing about this meeting was a lot of free fleece. It was raw, it was sheared and it may not be the best but it was free. This is Jacob fleece from one of the spinner's neighbors. Apparently they have 30 odd sheep that they tend to (uncovered of course), so this is not your fiber quality sheep. I started to shy away from the fleece to start. I had purchased Jacob roving before and had a heck of a time with it. It felt rough, course, hard to draft... it was just the pits! So I gave the other half of it away. Fortunately, I got a good feel of the carded batt that my fellow spinner had bought with her and was sold on giving it another try. Now I have two fleeces to work with but my goal is to wait until we get moved. Then we will have a washer and dryer for clothes and of course the washer will double as a fleece washer. I've got great big crafting plans for that house. =D


Speaking of moving....
We went by the house today to see what changes had been made. Very little as it turns out but we did get the low down on the progress. If all things go well the fixes and improvements will be done by Thursday. The floors still have to be finished and there is some wood that is rotted that will need to be replaced but its all getting done by and by. We have also secured a refrigerator, stove, washer and potentially a dryer. All second hand but very workable. I got a taste of what moving was like all over again Saturday. After five years in this place I had really forgotten! We packed up TheBoy's bookself and it took up three good sized boxes. I was shocked. I mean, I was already thinking that I was picking up too many boxes from work but instead I have picked up less than a drop in a bucket of what I will need. I can tell that I'm not going to like this one bit. The good thing is that we have the flexibility to start moving our stuff in before the lease date starts. This makes the process a little more bearable since we don't have room in the apartment for packed up boxes. Ohhh... another little bonus.... my FIL bought a trailer to hitch to the back of his SUV so I'm thinking it will make moving less expensive since we won't have to rent a truck. (Thank goodness for that!)