Garlic Fest and the Wheel's progress.

Saturday morning we went to the Garlic Festival, had to buy some for planting as well as eating. We still have some left from our harvest here at the house, but those are for eating not planting. Don't have enough to do that. Watched a fellow making a garlic braid. Interesting. Going to have to try it out.

You can't go to a festival without a trip to the beer tent. We sat there and listened to music and the guys had a beer. The one that belongs to me is in the blue shirt, the other fellow is our neighbor.

Saturday afternoon on the way home from the Garlic Festival we stopped in at The Olympic Pub for a drink... and a knit. Lighting wasn't the best, but it was good enough to knit on the sock. Lots of beer... but I don't drink beer... had a Martini instead. Yummy!

Here are the guys at the pub.

Thanks to my friend Jeanie who mentioned last night... to check into a ravelry group that focused on the wheel type that I have. She figured out what I had before I did. I was still trying to dig up info based on the info on the Makers Mark. I got that it was made in St. Hyacinthe Quebec, and I had stumbled across a few other's web sites that mentioned this maker but nothing with much information. So, as I said, she points me towards this group; CPW Lovers (That's Canadian Production Wheel... for those of you, like me, who were/are totally clueless) Yes, I knew that I had a Canadian wheel... figured that since St. Hyacnithe is in Quebec...and that the years they were in production ranged from 1860-1920... and there ended my knowledge. But that there was a compiling of information about such wheels? and On Ravelry no less? Huh. I don't spend enough time on ravelry me thinks. Now, I think my yard sale purchase is just getting better and better every minute.

So after 3 hours or so of reading on the site (and probably that many more hours to read, there is a lot of stuff) I find something that helps me with one of the obvious problems I was having. How to remove the whorl because someone put it together with out the flyer on the shaft. And It Was On Good and Tight! Needed a session with WD-40 this am and to have the shaft clamped in a vise, I put on a leather glove for grip and padding. Said the Lefty Loosy Righty Tighty rhyme and because this one is REVERSE Threaded that means it's backwards so which direction is Right. Yes I am directionally challenged. I can do North South East and West... but NOT left and right. Figured it out and off she came. Cruddy sticky on the shaft, and whorl so Murphy's Oil Soap to the rescue. Got it all cleaned and left it out to dry for a bit then rubbed it all down with Lemon Oil.

Notice the treadle is wrapped in a sock, I have a wire coat hanger acting as the footman and it is wrapped around the sock (don't want to scratch her) and up to the wheel arm there. Just a temporary fix. Going to see if I can find me a black smith or other iron worker who can make me a new one. From what I understand, these wheels had a rod instead of a wooden footman. So... will need to gather photographic evidence so that I can show the fellow what I want. The hanger works pretty well, but I have to shift it every so often.

Used # 10 cotton crochet thread for the drive band. Need to be a flipping octopus for this maneuver if you do it alone. Took four tries but I got it. I ended up putting in a slip knot, fastened that around the far maiden and then wound my way around and back to that point. Then carefully loosened that puppy, slid it up and off the maiden and tied a square knot. Tugged to make sure it was secure and then trimmed my ends up.... .... and she worked!

This pretty lady can spin!

She is definitely not at all like the babe! She spins far, far better, and quieter. I think that we are becoming friends quickly,... maybe. (grin) I fully expected to be spinning troll hair at first, and granted the first few yards are pretty rough looking, not as bad as my rank beginning days but still not something I would care to show off as a finished product. As I got a few more yards spun we seemed to be coming to an understanding of how she spins and takes up. Also, she seems to be demanding attention. I MUST pay attention to her, or she's a bit of a trickster because as soon as I feel I have the treadling - floating thing down pretty good and I am "zoning", she snaps the bloody yarn. ;-) Have to pay more attention this evening and see if I can "catch" what's going on when that is happening. {perhaps too much twist cause I wasn't fast enough?}

The stuff on the far back is pretty rough looking... but the front stuff is looking better.

The Maiden... she did not split

My neighbor lady, she that plays with wood... she is quite talented... was able to fix the maiden. She evened up the rough bits, drilled a hole in both pieces of the maiden, inserted a hard wood dowel aproximately one inch deep in both pieces added glue and put the puppy back together once again. Today, she sanded off any rough bits and even stained and "antiqued" the surgery site to closely match the original color. If you didn't know before hand that it had needed surgery you would have to search to find the surgery site. Wow! Gotta love a master craftsman/woman.

I noticed Wednesday that the flyer wasn't on the bobbin shaft and also even worse it wasn't in my possession and I became very nervous. I know that would be the hardest part to replace. The woman I purchased from had said that she had a few items that belonged with the wheel, but they were in a can in the back of her shed and would I be able to swing by on Friday to pick them up? "Of Course!" Guess what was on the top of the can... The Flyer. Woo Hoo! I had even taken a photo of the one on my babe so that I could show her what it looked like if it wasn't in the can. The other items... some wool roving (that went in the compost... it didn't look too healthy and I didn't want it in my wool room) A set of older hand carders ( I vacuumed these out really really good with the shop vac) Oiled them up and am going to put them in a large zip lock bag for a bit to make sure that if there are critters that they don't infest my stash. Also inside the can was a shuttle for weaving.

So... Now how to get the flyer back on the bobbin shaft with out breaking anything... nothing wants to come off the shaft. The drive band wheel and the bobbin I would think should slide off the narrow end of the shaft but they won't. Don't know if there is a fancy trick that I am ignorant of or what I don't want to resort to brute force. Still need a footman... (what I was calling the "treadle arm" as I couldn't recall the term) Some of my hubby's friends are bending their brains around the problem. I will be visiting some of the antique shops in the area and seeing if they have any or know where to find one. (otherwise the guys will cobble me together one and knowing them it could be interesting) I am going to measure the space between points A and B at various angles so I will have some idea as to what I am looking for sizewise. Any one out there who has more info please clue me in. :-) Can't wait to get the "Old Lady" spinning once again. Have to name her pretty soon, or she is going to be Old Lady and that so lacks respect. ;-) Also want to go talk to the woman I purchased her from and see if she has any information at all on the previous owner. I know she was using it... as the bobbin came with some wool spun up. (That too went to the compost bin tho... it had been sitting a long while and looked iffy). Can't afford to take chances on infecting my stash... not enough freezer space in this house!

Knitting News!
*Finished up the Lucy bag. It needs a date with the washer for shrinkage. Then delivery to it's recipient.
*Only 30 more rows on the pattern insert on my Nieces RED birthday sweater. Then just a whole lot of seed stitch. That will be much easier than a cable pattern that changes every other row. Can't do the insert pattern unless I can sit in a quiet space.
*My Braids Cardi is out of the bottom of the basket and is now being worked upon once again. Only 4 more decreases at the armpit and then joining. Have to find my notes on the previous sleeves decreases. I am going to try to make this my airplane knitting when I head for Hawaii. (If it isn't finished before then) That way I don't have to pack a jacket for my return. I'll be able to wear my sweater. Which means of course that when I get back to SeaTac it will be 85 degrees at 6:30 am... unlike the blizzard when I returned last time with just a light jacket.

Knit Happy!

It Followed me home....

That's my story and I'm sticking with it...

She's pretty, and in fairly good condition, I believe, for her age. I currently spin on my Babe or on one of my many drop spindles and I will be the first to tell you that I know next to nothing about an older wheel. I don't however, think that she will be too difficult to restore to prime old lady condition. If you know otherwise... please let me know gently. :-)

The arm connecting the treadle to the wheel is MIA. I have looked at a few photos online and plan to look at more, but I think that this should be a fairly easy fix.
This next fix will be a bit more tricky. There will need to be holes drilled in the center of the two pieces, a hardwood dowel inserted and glue applied. If the drilling goes well, then the prospects are good. If the maiden splits... (hmmm that sounds rather vulgar) if she splits... then I will require the services of a woodworker to duplicate the piece. And possibly an ironmonger/blacksmith type of person to re-set or duplicate the metal portion.

This is just a shot of the Mother of all and the one surviving maiden. you can see how the hole is plugged with the remains of the broken maiden. I did slip that piece out of the Mother tho and so the maiden is now ready for surgery. I don't know if I am going to attempt it on my own or have someone else attempt the surgery. Most likely someone else... I do know a few people that play with wood and major wood tools on a regular basis. I have a wood lathe in the garage and a drill press and some other fun toys that belonged to my dad, but I haven't spent much time using any of them since I was a teenager. That was long and long ago...

Makers Mark? There is writing on the bottom of this piece as well. One of the inscriptions reads to Mr and Mrs. (and then the rest is illegible to my eyes) also writing in another area of the bottom in what looks like pencil and I can't read that either. I am going to claim poor lighting and faint writing but it is probably just my eyes. Hopefully it will imbiggen when you click.

Here she is in all her glory. Yes she does still need a drive band. I was on the phone ordering that before I got home. The bobbin was not photographed. And yes, I know that the wheel is on backwards in this photo. The little arm crank looking thingy is where the treadle arm shoud be attached. I realized that the wheel was set in bassackwards after the photo op... as I was looking at the photos actually. It has now been turned. :-)Oh? Howmuch did she set me back? Fifty ($50) dollars. Figured if I couldn't fix her up myself, I could afford to have her fixed up as the purchase price was so reasonable. I think she's gorgeous.

Happy Knitting!

Baby SeaHawks Sweater

Finished!

Music and Knitting

Went out with a few Knitterly Friends this evening to the Northern Pacific Coffee Company (I linked to their My Space page), for an evening of music and knitting. We had a great time! M. and her friend Mo opened the music for the younger set... one of which was Mo's daughter. The younger two each played and sang separately. Awesome guitar and lyrics from all of the ladies. I enjoyed getting out for an evening and doing something a bit different.

Worked on the Lucy Bag while listening to the music. Perfect knitting for being out, round and round and round and round. :-) Only about 10 more rounds on the body of Lucy then working on the handle/strap. The "muggles" didn't look too freaked out to see a group of ladies knitting whilst listening. Tho the people from the table nearest ours did stop to talk to us on their way out. One of the ladies wanted to know if what we were knitting was all going to be joined together with what the others were knitting. (This struck me as funny as there were two or three pairs of socks, a square for an afghan, a sweater, and a felted purse... did I miss any? And all were being knit with obviously different yarns and were extremely different sizes) Makes me wonder what knitting looks like to the "muggles" as just glancing at the table I would have thought the diversity would be blatently apparant. Maybe only a knitter could see it? I don't know. :-) Hee hee... Told her that "No, we were all knitting on our own projects". She did seemed relieved to see that we weren't all using the same yarn. Which made me think that it might be funny if when we all get together out and about again to all have the same color yarn.... mess with their minds a bit.

Last night and this morning I worked on the Seahawks baby sweater and it is now finished except for weaving in the ends and button shopping. Plan on doing that tomorrow morning and delivering it on Monday. Nothing like getting something done before it is due. Yes!
Well, here it is almost midnight so I had better wrap this up and hit the sack.

Knit Happy!

The Sock Summit Marketplace

Wow! Wool fume overload. Looked to me like there was quite the turn out. I was one of the first in the Convention Center parking garage Friday morning and I chose a spot near where I entered the parking area so that I would be able to re locate my vehicle when it was time to leave. Meant that I had a bit further to walk, but hey, I need the exercise anyhow. When I left a bit before 1 pm, the parking garage on the level where I was parked was completely full

There were plenty of vendors and I spent hours looking at all of their wares. Spent some $$ too. Didn't buy too much yarn, did buy a few other items tho. One vendor and darn it I don't recall their shop name. Have to check through my receipts real quick... ah ... Sassafras Creations. Have to see if they have an Internet presence. They had jewelery made from knitting needles. I bought a bangle bracelet made from a size 3 needle. (They do have a presence... I linked to their Etsy site). Also one vendor was selling vintage knitting tools. (can't locate that receipt) Bought a sock darning tool. Can't call it an egg... looks more like a mushroom. The handle unscrews for a needle storage area. Also picked up some vintage crochet hooks made from bone, they have hooks on both ends. Oh, and an orifice hook. I lost the one that I had, and I have been using a paper clip partially stretched out. Took a few photos, but the camera battery was dying. Haven't looked at them yet. Will try to get them loaded to the computer and post them later if they turned out.

Was tired today from all the driving and shopping yesterday, tho I went to the Ryan House in Sumner to spin with my spinning buddies. I was only there a few hours. There is a Street Fair Arts and Crafts type of thing going on. I can't really tell you much more about it except that there were lots of vendors selling their wares and what I saw of it was interesting. I tried not to look so closely as I spent plenty down in Portland at the Sock Summit yesterday. I did make one purchase of fiber. Bought 5 small balls of roving all Shetland and in different shades. Haven't weighed them, so don't know how many ounces I have, but there will most likely be enough after spinning to make a pair of gloves/mittens.

Will probably be mittens. And don't hold your breath waiting to see it spun up and knitted. I organized my "need to finish" stuff and got it sorted through. There is enough stuff on the needles there to keep me busy through the end of the year. Also I need to free up a spindle before I can spin anything else. The baby sweater is first... Deadline is first of September. Only 2 1/2 more inches on the body and then the sleeves to do. Oh have to buy buttons as well. Then my sweater has just one sleeve left to knit. I have the stitches picked up. Thinking that this will be good plane knitting for the trip to and from Hawaii. Will have to wind one more skein of yarn tho. This way I also don't have to take a jacket... as I will have one when I finish the sleeve. Incentive for getting it done. Right? My Neices red sweater will not be going to Hawaii. There is too much focus that needs to happen during the trees pattern. I don't want to have to pull that back out. I will get on that as soon as I get back from Hawaii. Due date for that Nov. 30. (her b-day is 1 Dec.) The Giganticus socks fit my soon to be Daughter-in-Law perfectly, so I will keep working on those when I have time. Socks usually live in my purse... so ... and then there are the other things on needles that need finishing too. Not going to list all of them.

Well, it is after 8pm and I am making many spelling errors. I am off to bed.

Happy Knitting!

Sweaters and beans

Working on the baby sweater a bit today. Wanted to be farther along than I am but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Slow knitting in this heat. Have to keep getting up to fill my water glass and then have to get up to pee. :-( Ah well. Have till the first week of September to finish it and I am almost at the half way point. Soon, soon.

Had to buy another pressure cooker. I believe that my mom has the one that she gave me. I used two of hers a few years ago, and she gave me one... I thought that she loaned it to me so I returned them both to her. I have been over every spot in the house where it could conceivably be, including the attic. Now I believe that it is in her storage. We shall see one of these days. If it is... then I will have 2.

Canned 5 pints of green beans from the garden this afternoon. This is the first I have canned anything other than Jelly/Jam on my own. Helped mom out quite a bit when I was younger, (in the late 70's and early 80's) so has been quite awhile. My production level isn't any where near hers. My folks would drive over to Yakima ( I never went with on those trips... I was home mindng the younger two) and they would come home with all kinds of produce and we would then prep and can till it was done. Wonder where they went to get all their produce. Will have to ask my mom. Just in case I ever want to can up more than my garden can produce.

Waiting for it to cool off again and then I will knit some more on the baby sweater.

Knit Happy!