Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Spinning Wheel goes round and round.......

In 1980 the need to spin became an obsession for me. I found an antique walking wheel on the back porch of an old local store and the owner sold it to me for a cheap price. I taught myself to spin which was not an easy task by any means. There was very little spinning information available but I managed (or should I say, struggled). New wheels were born over the years and I want you to meet one of them. It's a Country Craftsman and was purchased in 1991. Unfortunately they are no longer available. The gentleman who crafted these beautiful wheels retired in 2003. I have two of these but this one is my favorite. I have no idea why, we just seem to get along well.


I have purchased masses of fleece along the spinning trail and was even known to pack a lunch, put the kids in the car and go for a ride looking for sheep farms at shearing time. Nothing like taking your kids to a stranger's door to find out if they were willing to sell a fleece. Trust me, I begged and managed to snag a few during those excursions:).
The spinning bug has recently invaded my knitting time and I've been spinning away. The red skein is romney, the other two skeins are unknown. I navajo plied the two on the left. Now to find patterns for these three.


Way back when (in the 90's) I spun and knitted a few items for the family. Here's a pair of well worn fleece stuffed mittens.

The yarn was dyed for the pink pair of socks. The pair on the right is a spun corridale.



The pair on the left are a border leicester fleece with a shetland sole. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's design. As you can tell they're large to fit hubby's Fred Flintstone sized feet. The pair on the right are for me. They're thick and warm. Perfect for cold winter days.


There's a sweater hidden around here somewhere that my youngest son requested when he was 12 yrs old. I took him to my favorite sheep farm on shearing day and he chose the fleece that he wanted. I must find that sweater.
Okay, Anita, is this enough info? LOL There's an inside joke going on here and I'm going to ask for your help. Anita requested these pics and I requested gingerbread men stitch markers. If you haven't seen her new apple markers check them out and put in a request (better yet, demand) for cupcakes, donuts and of course gingerbread men.........hee-hee).

6 comments:

SissySees said...

Love 'em all, and yes, we need to see that sweater.

And I want gingerbread markers too! (I keep saying that... I think I'm getting a mess of assorted markers for Christmas, because I want one of most of her new designs!)

smilely said...

Everything looks great. Glad you are back to spinning. We missed you again today.

Anita said...

Well dang, I guess I'm making gingerbread men this weekend. LOL
You can just forget about the houses though! ha ha

LOVE your wheel! And your yarn is gorgeous! Just look at all that stuff you have knitted with handspun! That middle yarn, the one with the purple in it, that one is gonna be mittens or something for me right? SNOL

gMarie said...

Is this about me? I will not spin, I will not spin, I will not spin. But I will go tell anita to make gingerbread men. :) g

Laura Neal said...

I wish I could spin but, can't do it right now. Boohoo! You should see my huge box of alpaca fleeces from Australia, natural black and natural white. :)
I have so much fiber around here, I am running out of hiding places for it all! It is an addiction, spinning.
Very nice work on the socks!

Bubblesknits said...

What awesome projects! And I love the wheel.