Things to Play With and Boy Toys
Things are fun and crazy and tiring and maddening and I think I need a really long nap and maybe a half a pound of chocolate and maybe a little snuggle with Lousmith.
This week I got some new hand painted fibers from Enchanted Wheel. The colors are lovely. Isn’t it funny how you can have hand painted fiber from 12 different people and even if they all use the same colors they will all look different. On the very right in the picture is “My Little Pony”. I really want to spin some of that…
It reminds me of a time when I was in my friends wedding and all of the bridesmaids were poor and lived all over the country so the bride bought the fabric and patterns for the dresses and sent them to us to make. We all had the same pattern and the same fabric and when we showed up we all had a different dress.
That’s my next weaving project on the Wolf Pup. It is 5 colors from orange to pink to burgundy. I’m going to weave in a twill pattern with the same yarns (mercerized cotton). It will be two shawls when it is finished. Then I plan to a color study with Louet Gems Merino yarn.
Here is a beautiful shawl that my friend Denny made for me. The thicker yarn in the pattern is a 3 ply hand spun she mad on her drop spindle from roving I gave her. She masterfully matched it to some Malabrigio lace weight and knitted something lovely – squiggle knitting is what she calls it.
Hand spun scarf:-) I really like it. Hand dyed BFL spun intermittently with white BFL so you get a stripy scarf with no ends to weave in. 
This is also a pile of stuff that Denny brought on her trip to the USofA. It is all still sitting on the table in the dining room cause I have this lame kind of thing about saving things people give me. It’s all food and I need to use it.
My new friend Elayne brought me these most thoughtful of gifts. I love the little needle gauge and I’ve been wearing it as a necklace since she left. I have these for sale in my shop and it was such a coincidence that’s what she brought for me. The spindle is bamboo and was hand made by her husband. It’s definitely larger and heavier than the spindles I usually reach for but it spins forever. It’s very lovely.
So, here’s my newest toy. I’ve been wanting to play with one of these for years. Two weeks ago I was on the Louet website and saw that they finally had a few again and so I threw caution to the wind and ordered it. I do not regret it. The thing is fast! Like lightning. It’s an accelerated wheel that has three ratios from 10:1 to 20:1.
I did a little fooling with it and then got out 8 ounces of the most beautifully dyed Masham that was given to me by my favorite designer Jillian. It was dyed by Black Bunny Fibers in my signature colors of pink and orange.
Each of those bobbins is holding about 4 ounces!
And here’s the finished product. I LOVE IT! I forgot to figure the yardage. I’m going to guess about 500 yards. I’ll get back to you;-)
So we got a new camera and Lousmith has been playing around with it. Here I am working and looking a lot less wrinkly than in some other pictures I’ve seen lately of myself. Heh.
Maggie’s been busy making Maggie batts for me to put up for sale on the webstore. That lovely sparkly yellow and pink one has been removed (by Maggie) because the tiny girl takes after her mother and has decided to spin that one herself.
Also, I found this picture of me floating around the internet. I wonder if any magazines will pay a lot of money to publish it.
8 thoughts on “Things to Play With and Boy Toys”
Ah, the 80’s, the era of excess!
Those are some beautiful pictures. Geez, I can’t wait to see more from that new camera. oh, and you’re a cutie, too!
Guess who…
That photo of you is EXCELLENT!
It’s really a shame you don’t like pink yarn at all.
That masham (remember to wrinkle your nose when you read it) is gorgeous! Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be so pretty!
Beth, is that the S45 wheel? I bought one when they first came out and have never regretted it. It is my favorite, favorite wheel (I currently have four different ones) and I think if it hadn’t ended up being so expensive, it would have sold a lot better for Louet.
One day, maybe, I will make it to your lovely shop and we can spin away on our 45’s – LOL! Just like the old records, eh?
Cary at Serenity Farms
So many interesting things in one post. First, it would take me forever to spin all the fiber that you got, but after seeing some of what you’ve spun, you’re far better than I am.
You mentioned being in a wedding where the bride provided the fabric and patterns for the dresses. Wouldn’t it be nice if more weddings went that way instead of the hugely expensive designer gowns? So much money seems to be wasted on extravagent things in weddings these days.
What an interesting Louet wheel. I haven’t seen that one before.
I also see you like Longaberger baskets. I liked them so much that I started selling them earlier this year. I sometimes use the medium market basket to hold several of my project bags when I need to tote a couple of projects somewhere.
Enjoy your S45, ’cause it’s probably one of the last ones you’ll see as Louet discontinued them. They are no longer available!
I have one too, and I’m so happy with it. I’m sad to see it go. I missed the news about it so it might be to make a better version or so, but at the moment I can’t find anything about it online.
Happy spinning
Greets from Belgium!