Snowstorm.... my fault
I have finally emerged from the pile of roving to take some time to post. It's been crazy... spinning, knitting, working, cleaning, and spending the weekend as a basketball tournamet mom.
I returned the Ashford Elizabeth II wheel and asked to rent a Schacht Spindle for a month. The owner told me that they really only rent wheels for class times, and have never rented a wheel for someone "out of class". She made it very clear that they want to sell wheels, not rent them, and my use of one of their wheels would depreciate the value for a future sale. I understood this, but was perturbed none-the-less. I want to seriously try the wheels before I make such an investment. I want to know what I like and don't like before I shell out a few hundred dollars. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so, because after calling a few other places that had spinning wheel "rentals" I had been scoffed at enough when I asked if I could rent a wheel. After some negotiating, Yarns By Design allowed me to rent a Schacht for two weeks, and no more after that.
I like the Schacht, for the most part. It is much easier to treadle than the Ashford Elizabeth (this model is a double treadle), but for some reason I have been having a hard time getting the wheel started. Plying was SUPER EASY on this wheel. Actually enjoyable. There was no need to change the tension, I only reversed the spinning direction. I have spun 8 ounces and plied it in three nights. I'm almost ready for the next guild meeting where we dye the wool with commercial dyes. I don't like changing the bobbins. It's a pain to unwind the tension and "pop" out the bobbin. It is really difficult to match up the pins at each end because the eyelets move easily. I also don't like to hang my tools from the crank, and most of the people who have this wheel do this. It's convenient, but I personally don't want my tools dangling from anything. I like the brands that have built in storage for the hook better.
I have finished the Latvian mittens and wore them to the Wisconsin 6th grade girl's state basketball tournament. Lots of compliments. The reason we got 8 - 9 inches of snow on Friday night was because I needed an excuse to wear these mittens. Sorry to everyone else who had to travel in that, it was because of my mitten desires! Our trip took much longer than normal, but we made it. Synopsis of the tournament? Our girls were shook by the stiff competition. They lost their first game 29-20, won their second game (can't remember the score), lost their third game by 26 points (awful, awful game), and lost their fourth game (they never recovered from that third game). We went back to the hotel, ate pizza and let the girls use up what little energy they had left by swimming in the pool. Today they played two games. They won the first game by 3 points and lost the second game by 1 point. They had such an exciting last game... a foul on a shot to bring the score to within one point with 2 seconds left on the clock. She didn't make either of the free throws, the poor girl was so shook. I was super proud of our team. They have never really had tough competition, and have never been down in a game by more than 5, so this was a new experience, and they held up well and learned a lot. The games they played today already showed a lot of improvement. All I have to say is watch out next year! As fifth graders last year these girls didn't do well in two tournaments and this year they came back to win them both. They are fighters. My daughter had the best games of her little career. I'm still bursting with pride. DH actually welled up with tears after one of the games when we were talking about it in the car. She is the sixth woman on the team, the first sub to be called out, and she wants to be a starter. She played so hard that she was left in for the majority of every game. I feel bad for the girl who sat and isn't used to that, but most of the parents were impressed with how well my daughter did, and the coaches were amazed and pleased as well. They hope this is a sign of what she has to offer in the future. The snotty, competitive, clicky, in-bred locals who made snide comments about why she was out there instead of the other girl will never realize or see that my daughter played better this weekend. The next tournament could be different. I just wish that our parents could be better team cheerers. It's crystal clear after this weekend that we will never get along as adults, but I sure wish we could be more positive as spectators. One of the coaches had hoped to win the sportmanship award, but after the first game today, she told me that it would never happen because of the parents. The ref glared several times at our bench as the parents screamed about the calls. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm a parent of this team because of the other parents, not because of the girls. I'm so proud of them!
My new knitting project is a pair of socks of my mother for Mother's Day. Details to come.
I returned the Ashford Elizabeth II wheel and asked to rent a Schacht Spindle for a month. The owner told me that they really only rent wheels for class times, and have never rented a wheel for someone "out of class". She made it very clear that they want to sell wheels, not rent them, and my use of one of their wheels would depreciate the value for a future sale. I understood this, but was perturbed none-the-less. I want to seriously try the wheels before I make such an investment. I want to know what I like and don't like before I shell out a few hundred dollars. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so, because after calling a few other places that had spinning wheel "rentals" I had been scoffed at enough when I asked if I could rent a wheel. After some negotiating, Yarns By Design allowed me to rent a Schacht for two weeks, and no more after that.
I like the Schacht, for the most part. It is much easier to treadle than the Ashford Elizabeth (this model is a double treadle), but for some reason I have been having a hard time getting the wheel started. Plying was SUPER EASY on this wheel. Actually enjoyable. There was no need to change the tension, I only reversed the spinning direction. I have spun 8 ounces and plied it in three nights. I'm almost ready for the next guild meeting where we dye the wool with commercial dyes. I don't like changing the bobbins. It's a pain to unwind the tension and "pop" out the bobbin. It is really difficult to match up the pins at each end because the eyelets move easily. I also don't like to hang my tools from the crank, and most of the people who have this wheel do this. It's convenient, but I personally don't want my tools dangling from anything. I like the brands that have built in storage for the hook better.
I have finished the Latvian mittens and wore them to the Wisconsin 6th grade girl's state basketball tournament. Lots of compliments. The reason we got 8 - 9 inches of snow on Friday night was because I needed an excuse to wear these mittens. Sorry to everyone else who had to travel in that, it was because of my mitten desires! Our trip took much longer than normal, but we made it. Synopsis of the tournament? Our girls were shook by the stiff competition. They lost their first game 29-20, won their second game (can't remember the score), lost their third game by 26 points (awful, awful game), and lost their fourth game (they never recovered from that third game). We went back to the hotel, ate pizza and let the girls use up what little energy they had left by swimming in the pool. Today they played two games. They won the first game by 3 points and lost the second game by 1 point. They had such an exciting last game... a foul on a shot to bring the score to within one point with 2 seconds left on the clock. She didn't make either of the free throws, the poor girl was so shook. I was super proud of our team. They have never really had tough competition, and have never been down in a game by more than 5, so this was a new experience, and they held up well and learned a lot. The games they played today already showed a lot of improvement. All I have to say is watch out next year! As fifth graders last year these girls didn't do well in two tournaments and this year they came back to win them both. They are fighters. My daughter had the best games of her little career. I'm still bursting with pride. DH actually welled up with tears after one of the games when we were talking about it in the car. She is the sixth woman on the team, the first sub to be called out, and she wants to be a starter. She played so hard that she was left in for the majority of every game. I feel bad for the girl who sat and isn't used to that, but most of the parents were impressed with how well my daughter did, and the coaches were amazed and pleased as well. They hope this is a sign of what she has to offer in the future. The snotty, competitive, clicky, in-bred locals who made snide comments about why she was out there instead of the other girl will never realize or see that my daughter played better this weekend. The next tournament could be different. I just wish that our parents could be better team cheerers. It's crystal clear after this weekend that we will never get along as adults, but I sure wish we could be more positive as spectators. One of the coaches had hoped to win the sportmanship award, but after the first game today, she told me that it would never happen because of the parents. The ref glared several times at our bench as the parents screamed about the calls. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm a parent of this team because of the other parents, not because of the girls. I'm so proud of them!
My new knitting project is a pair of socks of my mother for Mother's Day. Details to come.
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