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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, March 15, 2007 Spinning. Well, sort of My new Kromski Mazurka spinning wheel, with a few feet of yarn on the bobbin and a lot of dark fiber hanging out of the orifice. Not a very good picture. There is no place in this cramped little trailer to take a picture of something without a lot of unwelcome background intruding. I tried numerous pictures of it sitting on the floor, but finally gave up and set it back on the newspaper covered table I assembled it on.We aren't quite in tune with each other yet. This is a "castle" style wheel, which is what I wanted, but I didn't anticipate that its very light weight would make it difficult to treadle. Considering the number of years I sewed with an old Singer treadle sewing machine, I didn't anticipate any trouble with the treadling part of it at all, in fact. But this is not a heavy platform with a cast iron treadle. This wheel is so darn light that when I rock my heel back on the treadle, the whole contraption rocks backward toward me. Every time I rock my foot forward, it tries to walk away from me on the floor. On the supposition that part of the problem was a need for lubrication, I dripped oil on everything I could reach. The treadling is minimally better. I think. It's hard to know whether the oil helped, or I just got better at holding my foot in the right place on the treadle. I should probably have gotten a double treadle wheel. I just didn't see the need to pay the extra money it would have cost, and I really did want a lightweight portable wheel.The other thing I found was that the single drive setup, which is allegedly better for beginning spinners, didn't work at all for me. I absolutely could not get the Scotch tension set correctly, which meant that I could put horrendous amounts of twist in the fiber, but I could never get it to wind on to the bobbin. So I switched to the double drive setup and completely eliminated that problem.This is obviously going to require a lot more practice than I expected, but I will make it work. I'm yearning to knit with my own yarn. In fact, when I get a bobbin full, I intend to go ahead and knit something with it, even if it's just a square hot pad. But not tonight, since the powers that be decided to start sending out work again, after dead silence from them for nearly a week. So tomorrow I work, and tonight I get the paperwork ready for it. posted by Liz @ 8:30 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
My new Kromski Mazurka spinning wheel, with a few feet of yarn on the bobbin and a lot of dark fiber hanging out of the orifice. Not a very good picture. There is no place in this cramped little trailer to take a picture of something without a lot of unwelcome background intruding. I tried numerous pictures of it sitting on the floor, but finally gave up and set it back on the newspaper covered table I assembled it on.We aren't quite in tune with each other yet. This is a "castle" style wheel, which is what I wanted, but I didn't anticipate that its very light weight would make it difficult to treadle. Considering the number of years I sewed with an old Singer treadle sewing machine, I didn't anticipate any trouble with the treadling part of it at all, in fact. But this is not a heavy platform with a cast iron treadle. This wheel is so darn light that when I rock my heel back on the treadle, the whole contraption rocks backward toward me. Every time I rock my foot forward, it tries to walk away from me on the floor. On the supposition that part of the problem was a need for lubrication, I dripped oil on everything I could reach. The treadling is minimally better. I think. It's hard to know whether the oil helped, or I just got better at holding my foot in the right place on the treadle. I should probably have gotten a double treadle wheel. I just didn't see the need to pay the extra money it would have cost, and I really did want a lightweight portable wheel.The other thing I found was that the single drive setup, which is allegedly better for beginning spinners, didn't work at all for me. I absolutely could not get the Scotch tension set correctly, which meant that I could put horrendous amounts of twist in the fiber, but I could never get it to wind on to the bobbin. So I switched to the double drive setup and completely eliminated that problem.This is obviously going to require a lot more practice than I expected, but I will make it work. I'm yearning to knit with my own yarn. In fact, when I get a bobbin full, I intend to go ahead and knit something with it, even if it's just a square hot pad. But not tonight, since the powers that be decided to start sending out work again, after dead silence from them for nearly a week. So tomorrow I work, and tonight I get the paperwork ready for it.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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