I finally found a used Lendrum spinning wheel on Craigslist after searching for two years! My first spinning wheel was an Ashford Traditional which I added a double treadle to as I had horrible rhythm with the single treadle. It was a nice wheel and while I enjoyed spinning on it just wasn't a good fit to our tiny house and boy was it hard to carry to classes. I tried a Lendrum at my first spinning class at The MN Textile Center in St. Paul and loved it utterly and completely, but the price put it out of my reach. Then a few weeks ago I found one on CL for a price I could afford and it is a perfect match. She fits sweetly in a corner, spins beautifully and it's a breeze to fold her up and take her with me. I turned around and sold my Ashford wheel with all her accessories which amazingly covered the cost of the new wheel - yay!
To try her out I finished spinning the second ply of some BFL fiber I purchased from the lovely ladies at Friends in Fiber. The colorway is Antique Tapestry and is a rich array of copper, brown and teal. I then plied the two singles together using the Bulky head flyer (which is a breeze to switch out) to a DK/light worsted weight yarn. I cast on right away for the Spiral Cowl which you see above. It was a fun knit as I learned something new - how to do a picot edge cast on and bind off, and the spiral lace pattern that makes up the middle section was a breeze to knit and very relaxing. I even got to use one of the handmade buttons from Wooly Moss Roots that I salvaged from a failed project . It's made of walnut which matched the cowl's colors beautifully.
Currently, I'm spinning the fiber I got from Shepard's Harvest from Three Sisters Farm and Fiber which I talked about here. It is practically spinning itself into a very fine ply. I purchased 8 oz. of fiber which gives me enough to make a 3 ply yarn with a good amount of yardage I think. I really love 3 ply handspun yarn as it's so round and pleasant to knit with. I'm only sneaking in time at the wheel when I take a break from knitting my Hubbie's cabled vest so progress is slow and I'm only on the very beginning of the second ply. This yarn's fate will be a cowl I think as it is so, so very soft and well, I love simply love cowls - so cozy!
Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.
