November 20, 2011

The WOW Factor

I wish I could see this in person. I wish I could have this in my house. Or at least see someone else spin on it. Or at least get a better picture.  Here is the flyer;
The photos were uploaded back in 2003, but that was long before I was spinning. So this is new to me. Maybe to you too. The wheel was built by Bill Fox, up in the Pacific Northwest, and is made of myrtlewood. That's pretty much all I know.
 
Yesterday was spin group day. That's where I heard about the myrtlewood wheel. (thanks for the link Juli) Spin group is always a treat, but as everyone set up their wheels, there was something very different about our circle. All of a sudden, being close to an electric outlet was a concern. Care to take a guess? Its the e-spinner invasion. (Cue the scary music.)

In our little group of 5, three spinners were using e-spinners. And the 2 'real' wheels were Pocket Wheels. Bravely soldiering on, doing their part to uphold the old-fashioned foot powered tradition of hand spinning. Maybe in the future when we say 'hand'- spinning, we'll be talking about powered spinning, and we'll say 'hand and foot' spinning to mean using a wheel with treadles.

The day before yesterday was wash-and-dye day. I'm still washing up the great grey fleece, and I'd been thinking that some of it would look cool dyed shades of blue and or purple. Dyeing as part of the washing process sounds sensible. The wool is still wet and recently soaked in a water/vinegar rinse. And I have some blue dye and some red dye. Plus, recent rains mean I've turned off the irrigation system, so I don't feel so guilty about washing fleece. This bit just soaked outside in cold water for a couple of days. I think I let it set out in the (predicted) rain today for a rinse. It is sort of stinky. Maybe I'll try spinning some of it just so I can say I've tried spinning in the grease. Its not a really greasy fleece to start with.
Here are some of the dyed bits.
The light blue wool near the middle isn't merino, but something else I grabbed and tossed into the dye pot just to use up the rest of the dye. See that blue squarish bit nearby? That's a little pile of silk hankies I made from cocoons given to me by my friend, Fluffy's Garden. I sort of got the hang of hanky making, after a bit. Sort of.
Once all the dyed bits are dry, I'll weigh everything so I know how much I have, and then decide, uh, how to use it.

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