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a story of a wheel

[uh, yeah, if you’re not interested in spinning wheels, this might be a tad boring. at least the pics should be somewhat entertaining ;) ]

last thursday, i received the message that my trapezing class was canceled for that saturday and though later i was happy about that since we had crazy rain weather, initially when i heard the message i was totally bummed. what to do with my weekend? i really wanted to do something different, get out of l.a., move around, see new things, something. i was just feeling all cooped up.

sooo, friday night i decide, huh! i sould drive up to solvang, a little town just north of santa barbara, and visit the spinning store there. i was pretty positive that i wanted a majacraft rose, and was saving up money to get one later this month. however, knowing that the solvang store was a kromski dealer, i justified the idea of driving 5 hours in one day by thinking that i needed to try a kromski wheel just to be absolutely sure.

i really didn’t think i would like any kromskis – i had read others say that it was too fidgety and too many knobs and just not very stable. but the logical part of me really wanted to like the wheel since, at half the price of the rose, i could buy a kromski today. anyhow, it was an excuse to touch wheels, fondle fiber (yeah, you heard me right), and just get out of town.

when i arrived at the store, the man there told me that they didn’t have any kromski castle wheels to spin on, only the prelude, one of their saxony wheels. i was crushed and felt pretty foolish for driving all the way up and not checking first to make sure they had practice wheels available. after a bit of chatting and some out loud wishing, he decided to go down to the basement and assemble a krosmki minstral for me to try out. yay!

then, twenty minutes of assembling, with me getting more and more excited – all of a sudden, i just had a good feeling about this wheel. now, for you non-spinners (hurrah to you for reading this!), no one wheel is perfect for everyone. really, the only way to know what’s best for you is to sit down and spin. with the minstral, as soon as my feet hit the treadle, i was grinning from ear to ear and laughing with happiness. always a good sign. after about two minutes, i knew i was going to buy the wheel and take it home with me that very day. total excitement!

and that is how i got a kromski minstral. since then, i’ve just had a total feeling of rightness about my decision, like it’s a continuation of all kinds of interests and styles i’ve been following my whole life. the minstral looks like it came out of a eastern european fairy tale, spins like butter, is solid as a rock, and is just a well-thought out , beautifully wood-turned tool.

[another day when my cameria is more accomodating, i’ll give you all a nice little tour of the wheel – it’s particularly clever with the storage of the extra whorlsthe use of, and the leather and hemp used replaces any need for plastic. i’m still trying to figure out the staining – initially, i wanted a rich dark walnut stain like my table, then i tried a fruitwood stain, as seen on the darker bobbin, but now the snow white-y-ness of the unfinished wheel is starting to seem right. hm, decisions decisions. also, yarn-wise, that’s about 250 yards of merino in each color, mostly worsted weight. all in all, this is the sweetest smelling softest yarn i’ve made yet. yayyayayayayayy. love my wheel. ]

comment [7]

posted 14 March 06 & filed under my wheel, spinning

i hear music

more later today ~ for now, i’m off to get some nice danish oil for staining.

so excited, you must know! my own wheel!!

happy happy sunday ~ ~

(oh and yup, a new background – it’s almost california poppy season around here ;) )

comment [10]

posted 12 March 06 & filed under my wheel

march!

off to san francisco for the day in just a few hours ~ so very excited! i intend to enjoy every moment ;) in the meantime, a few links and a pic for you..

first, project spectrum has begun! every month, and maybe even more often, my background will change* to reflect the colors for that month and, as you can see, this month is red and pink. so i picked a, i think, great shot of.. can you guess what? answer below, thought not upside down ;)

here’s the progress on my fair isle bag ~ i’m happy with it so far. colorwork is really really fun to do and just speeds ahead. i was even able to fix an error a few rows down – totally not as hard as i thought it’d be. i’m taking it with me to s.f. to show off to meowgirl, yay

~ check out the new spindlicity! it’s been re-designed and is just pure eye candy, really lovely. the patterns are cute (felted tea holders!) and the articles (flame yarn!) are good. and there’s a little book review in there by me, too.

~ the new magknits is up as well (and isn’t knitty due soon?) – i especially like the delphine wilson-inspired top

~ i want to go trapezing. i’d feel like a bird, how cool would that be! this spinner posted about her own swinging and now i’m googling like mad to find l.a.-area resources.

~ things like these little containers recycyled out of old contact lens cases make me happy

~ cute elann free pattern alert

~ if you’ve read the last harry potter book, read this – a very interesting theory. warning: spoilers abound in the url alone, so don’t even hover over the link if you haven’t gotten through book six yet

~ another great reason to work in a library: library cats map

~ the internet archive, always incredible, has a great selection of classic cartoons, including the eerily-pitched betty boop and annoying woody woodpecker. very fun.

~ last but by no means least, congrats to all you knitting olympians! you make me proud

happy march ~ ~

*if you don’t see any change and it’s still all snowy winter wonderland, try clearing your browser’s cache (usually in preferences or options) and then hitting reload a few times.

[answer: right, blood! maybe initially disturbing, but really, we all have it; without it, we’re dead; and shoot, it’s pretty to boot. just think, we’re all walking around with all this red inside of us! is it only me that finds that fascinating? ;) ]

update: just got back. had an excellent time – everyone should be so lucky to hang out with meowgirl – and though my legs are exhausted from walking (what a wimpy angeleno!), i now know that a majacraft rose is in my future for sure. exactly when, i don’t quite know, but that’s the wheel for me, hands down. more later.. it’s almost the weekend, yay

comment [9]

posted 1 March 06 & filed under fair isle bag, my wheel

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