Pet peeve sleeves

I really really hate doing sleeves. I looked at all my UFOs lying about and/or hidden away, and at a guess I think 90% of them are sweaters or cardigans or tops stuck at the sleeve part of knitting. That means really they're over half done and if I were only to apply myself rigorously, I'd finish them. Yet, I just really hate doing them. They're boring, they're endless, they are very deceitfully really as big as a whole front or back bodice, you have to shape them to fit in an armhole, you have to sew them up, you have to increase and then decrease and usually at the same time on both sides, YUK, no, take them away!

There are, of course a couple of ways around this problem.
-I could start with the sleeves, instead of leaving them like a hateful chore to the end of all that more interesting knitting of the bodice.
-I could knit them top down and in the round, instead of bottom up, flat, to avoid the hated mattress stitching. ( in fact I do this a lot, it's definitely better, but you if you want to do it properly, there is still some shaping to do at the shoulders, AND it's still as endless going downwards than it is going upwards).
-I could knit 3/4 length sweaters or short sleeved ones, or better yet, no sleeves at all. Hurray for the sleeveless vest! But the sad truth is, I live in a sea climate, and the idea of a knitted sweater without sleeves, is rather like wearing a raincoat with a bikini bottom. I need the sleeves for warmth.
-I could move to Florida.

Still considering the last option.

I'm in love.....

...with my new big saxony wheel, the 30" Schacht-Reeves, in ash wood, with the flyer on the right. It arrived yesterday morning, and I can't tell you how nervous I was in the hours before it's arrival! Cecile, the dealer not only delivered it in my living room but singlehandledly put it together for me.. now that's service!
Here it is:

still without its flyer installed, and here Cecile dives into the LARGE box to get another part of her out:

and this is the whole wheel put together, with the Matchless next to it. You can really see the size difference in the wheels!



The spinning sensation is unlike any other spinning wheel I've ever tried. Due to the large wheel circumference, it has an ease and speed of spinning that's amazing, and the uptake is smooth and gentle and even.
I'm reaally happy I bought it, and I suppose for a while the Matchless will be ignored, but just while the honeymoon lasts.

30"Schacht-Reeves on its way!!

I can hardly breathe, it's coming! I've arranged with the dealer she will drop by to deliver it and help me set it up the 17th of this Month, so only 11 more days, YAY!!!

Happy New Year

I'm finding myself rewriting this blog post for the fifth time now. What I basically want to say is this. For the first time in many years, I actually had quite a good New Year's Eve, and am really looking forward to coming year. Those of you who have gone through painful stuff in their lives, such as divorce, extreme pubertal excesses of their kids, and a new, demanding and stressful job, like I have, will probably recognize how happy and grateful I am when I say that. I wish everyone a happy new year.

On a sadder but trivial note: the Schacht - Reeves spinning wheel I ordered in October, will probably arrive not this month but - gasp - in February! That's really awful. January somehow always seems such a long month, now it will seem even longer! I hope it'll turn out to be worth the wait.