First spinning samples

The Little Gem is exactly that, a little gem! I so enjoy working with her, although obviously I'm a beginner and still need to figure out loads of stuff...
I'm going to post some pictures of my first ever project made with self spun yarn, and another picture showing my first "skein" that I plied, washed and twisted into the smallest skein you could think of, but it's nice and really soft and I made it myself!!

Constance and I went to The Spinners in the Hague for a knitting group, which in itself was very enjoyable sitting there in Dinekes spacious room full of woolly and spinny things. She showed me a drop spindle by Golding that I immediately loved and ordered



I figured with such lovely tools even drop spindle spinning would be enjoyable and you can take it anywhere (although I have a travelling wheel, I don't see myself taking it always with me).

Also I bought some spinning roving wool/silk blends and spent the rest of the evening at home spinning up some of that. It IS truly addictive!

Ellen spins...

I think she is as much in love with the wheel as I am..
She wants to learn to spin but I'm still learning myself!

It's arrived ! , OR how I still haven't been knitting

My Majacraft Little Gem spinning wheel arrived at last! It is such a beauty!
It came with the TNT mail, actually the mailman was just about to drive his van away from my house when I arrived from shopping. I could just stop him! He had a sour face and said in a very unenthousiastic way "well lady, it's a package for which money should be paid, so.."as if he expected me to say; "why, I don't have any money on me so please just drive away and take the package with you", derrrr, AS IF!! So I explained to him that I was expecting that, actually had the money on me, so could I please have the package, and grudgingly he parked the van and handed over the package! To my suprise the customs and clearance money was only about a fifth of waht I had calculated. So I was overjoyed! It hadn't cost me as much as I expected and I had the wheel!!

It was actually very easy to assemble so before I knew it I was treadling away, and the same evening I already started spinning. Now I'm a beginner spinner, and I'm still a long way away from drafting and spinning the perfect yarn, BUT... it's enormous fun!

The wheel came with a nice dark green travelling bag, 4 bobbins, and a travelling lazy kate, and also with some very interesting New Zealand newspapers, so I now know all about what they're up to in Raratoa county, and what the sheriff said about it all....

a weekend in the North and NO spinning wheel

To start with my biggest frustration: The Little Gem hasn't arrived yet! Each day I come home from work with one question burning in my mind: Will It Have Arrived.. but each day the answer is no.
I know you can probably keep track of your order but I don't want to do that. I think actually knowing it's been sitting at customs for 5 days in a row, is probably even more frustrating than imagining it is still flying in a plane or being transported towards my front door as I'm writing this blog....

The past days I spent in the North of Holland with my sister, and saw my mother as well.
I could't resist a visit to a LYS ofcourse, so I went to see the Ryahuis in Zuidlaren.
I found it an inspiring shop with beautiful yarn (they stock Noro, Araucania, Rowan, Isager and lots more). I also couldn't resist teaching the owner to knit continentally, haha (if you read this, are you up to speed yet??)
To my mum I pointed out some yarn that I would like to receive from Sint this year (our Dutch version of Santa)!

Elf Not Knitting

This is the second night in a long long time that I haven't knit a single stitch. OK, I admit, it's not quite voluntary.. I've been suffering with a nasty attack of shoulder and back pain, brought on, I guess, by some serious stress factors in my life (like having a teenage daughter, not to mention a terrible lack of pathologists in this country so we're constantly understaffed...or alternatively it could be the full moon or premenstrual tension, who knows?). Anyway, even the thought of knitting was too much, so... no knitting for me. Just some quiet reading and watching telly halfheartedly.

Well it's funny, really. Whatever did I do in my pre-knitting days? I must have had aeons of time to do all kinds of things ... but I can't remember any of them now! And I'm so looking forward to finishing my "faux"fair isle hat (after all, it's a 5 December present so I have to knit on really, I'm not a very fast knitter).
I think I'll go and hug some yarn now....

I can't believe I did what I just did..

I bought a spinning wheel on eBay, although I've never spun on a wheel before!

I know... I'm crazy right? Well the thing is.. I've been spinning with a spindle, csteekjes was kind enough to teach me the fine art of it BUT.. I've been hankering after this particular wheel ever since I saw it at The Spinners stand at the Handwerkbeurs.

It's a Little Gem by Majacraft. I thought it was just too cute to be true. I don't actually like the look of most traditional spinning wheels. I don't want to look as if I should belong in a medieval castle while spinning. And most of the non-traditional ones have a kind of ..alternative 70s look to them that I don't particularly like either.

So well, there was this cute little foldable double treadle thingy with its' nice upright pole and tiny wheel, I couldn't resist it. I was in need of some tender loving splashing out of money tot treat myself anyway. 'Cause you guys know I'm sad and lonely and badly in need of some cheering up. Especially in the wild, unexpected, let's blow some money way.

And boy did it cheer me up!!

The only thing is I do worry it's going to take up all my knitting time...