Too Little Time in the Day...

Leaf Lace Socks by Fiber Trends, Lanett yarn by Sandnesgarn in Navy. This yarn is lovely to knit with, but the color is so dark it is difficult to make much progress without going blind. The red sock blockers really show off just how lacy this pattern actually is.






This is my new orifice hook. Love, love, love it. This tool allows me to draw the roving through the orifice of the spinning wheel without any trouble at all.






This is my first attempt at plying singles. It's not great yet, but I am working very hard at not letting my yarn suck... The ball on the right is what I did in class, and the ball on the left is what I did at home alone.





After much hysteria and a fair amount of screaming, I realized that I NEEDED a tensioned lazy kate. The tensioned kate acts as a second pair of hands for the spinning/plying impaired. I did a little research on the net, and behold my success! You can tell it is nothing fancy, but it has made a world of difference in my plying. The bobbins came with the wheel, the cardboard box is a box that printer paper came in. The only thing I had to buy was size #2 needles that were long enough to go through the box.






I have a pretty wooden niddy noddy from Kromski, but this is my favorite one. I made this from PVC pipe and PVC joints. It cost me less than $10 to make, and it is wonderful to use because it is so small. I extended the length of the arms so I could get more yarn on it.





Here I am with my hair pulled up (more or less) in all my still fluffy glory, trying out my new tensioned kate, and successfully plying. I look a mess, but I wanted to show how easy plying was with the kate. Notice the lack of hysteria??? You can see my wheel in the picture. I still haven't named it yet, but I will. Any suggestions?


I have really gotten into quotes lately, and I will leave you with my new favorite:

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd." Flannery O'Connor