Six months ago I bought my very first spinning wheel. I say it's my first because recent events have made it clear that there WILL be a second wheel in my future...

When I bought it, my wheel was used, which was just fine by me. That meant it was cheaper than a new wheel, and the lovely lady who sold it to me helped me learn how to use it (along with a brilliant man the next booth over). 

It's an Ashford Traveller and all around a nice little wheel. I did notice some "chattiness" on the flyer, but when I replaced the original flyer with a jumbo flyer, that problem was solved. 

I had a great time spinning - I managed to break the Spinzilla "monster mile" after having only a few months' experience. But I took a break - after all, spinning my own yarn meant my yarn stash was growing faster than I could knit with it!

Coming back to my wheel was a joy. Until it wasn't. 

The dog was sitting with me on the couch, and I was spinning away while we watched Star Wars. Now, this dog is the kind of dog who actually watches tv, and exciting things are the.most.exciting.thing.ever! When this happens, he just has to jump off the couch to get a better look. 

Except this time, he didn't just jump. He leapt over me - and my wheel - knocking the wheel over.

Now, this isn't the first time the dog has knocked over my wheel. It's not even the first time I've knocked over my wheel. I put the flyer back on, and thought everything was fine. I was a bit tired of spinning that night anyways, so I put the wheel away.

The next morning, everything was all wrong. 

Every time I treadled, there was a sickening scratching noise. The bar that connects the footmen had been flattened out in the fall.

Worried that banging the metal back out might break the bar or the footmen, my husband suggested that "surgery" was the only way to go.

Tears might have been shed. Someone might have uttered the words "disfiguring my precious wheel."
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I insisted that any "surgery" on the wheel must be discreet and leave minimal scarring. Here's what we ended up with:

The cuts allow the bar to pass between the footmen without any scratching or friction. This makes the wheel turn as smoothly as it did pre-accident. 

He even stained the areas where he cut out wood to better hide the cuts. And he knows a new wheel is in the future.

So, dear readers, any suggestions on which wheel to choose next time? Something sturdy, perhaps?

In the rush of the holiday season and end-of-year deadlines, the words over here have maybe dried up a bit. But the making continues...

I've been bitten by the weaving bug. Earlier this year, while I thumbed through weaving after weaving on Instagram, I decided it was a silly trend, and I wouldn't fall victim to it. 

Now I'm eating my words as I'm the owner of four looms - an Inkle loom, two rigid heddle looms, and a massive 45 inch Leclerc floor loom (it takes up an entire room).

It took a long and sweaty weekend to get the Leclerc set up, and naturally I decided I was going to weave something big on it - a rug. Great starter project, right? Another two weeks went by and the loom was finally warped and ready to go...and now I'm breaking threads left and right, having tension issues, and needing to regroup. 

So the learning curve is steep, but I got exactly what I wanted - a loom I can grow in to. And it's going to take some learning. 

I'll leave you with some scarves made on a table loom during a weaving class I took earlier this year. The table loom was great to learn on, but it took up my whole kitchen table, and I was perfectly happy to give it back when the class ended. Rational logic dictates that I'm happier to have a loom take up an entire room rather than just the kitchen table...right?

This first scarf is made from Malabrigo in a 1/3 twill. It's thick, and spongy, and oh-so-soft.:

I've been looking for a scarf in these shades of burgundy for ages, and now I finally have one. The pop of bright color on the back is brighter than what I normally go for, but on some dreary days it will be just the thing. 

The gray scarf could not be more different. It is light and drapey and soft in a much different way. When I was weaving it I worried about the yarn slipping and sliding all over the place, and it ended up a quite slinky scarf indeed. I played endlessly with the weaving draft so while it looks like it could be a single pattern, it's not.

While gray is my favorite color and I'm absolutely in love with this scarf, it's actually destined to be a Christmas present....