Of Ways and Means and Woes

Just because there is no knitting doesn't mean there is no thinking about fibre.  Fibre, yarn, fuzzy stuff is all I am thinking about. Though my poor thumb isn't in so much pain anymore, does not mean it is ready for a workout.  By my reckoning, it is going to be another two weeks of healing.

Which is really kind of a pain, since I am going on a retreat shortly, where it will be all about spinning and knitting.  What on earth am I going to do?  

I already have part of my solution.  I am thinking of taking a ball winder and swift along.  I can wind reasonably well with my left hand, and I do have a whole bunch of yarn that needs to be prepped.  

Three large hanks of Eco + Peruvian Tones.  This is my next up yarn.

And I have all sorts of Kauni to wind to ready for the shawls of summer.  

Yes, that is the plan.  Shawls for summer.

And then there is the matter of bobbins.  I need to empty one to ply the colourful Big Ball I just completed working with, but I also need to empty my bobbins because I am probably selling one of my spinning wheels.  I have been mulling this for some time now.  I never seem to get around to working with my Julia. When I moved to my wee house, Julia was my principal wheel.  I had my Victoria at the time, but I struggled to get a feel for it.  The Julia is such a wonderful spin that learning the fine differences between the two just never happened. The Julia went into storage when I moved back to my house simply because the spinning wheel had to stay in my car.  Victoria had a large case to keep her in.  Even now that I am pretty settled, my spinning is mostly on the road. Victoria just is easier for me to transport.  All the Julia needs to make her easy to transport is a little strap on her back post, but she is a bit heavier than Victoria and the Vic is already to go. I never quite make it to the Julia for all my good intentions.  It says to me, I am a one wheel person.  

The prospective buyer wants the bobbins so I have to empty some bobbins for her.  She remains prospective to me because she is going to the fibre retreat too.  It gives her the opportunity to spin on the Julia and see if she likes it.  I am going to dig out some fibre for her to play with to give her a good running start. I have shome Shetland in my stash that came with my original purchase of the wheel and the Louet prep is particularly fine when you are just learning to draft on to a new wheel. That way, she can play all weekend and never worry about running out of fibre.

If I get more bobbins for myself, I plan to get the Akerworks bobbins.  The larger capacity is very appealing to me, but for now, I will carry on with just the three bobbins that came with the Vic. I have a large stable of very firm cardboard tubes to use to wind single on to  

and I purchased some large 2 3/4 inch spools from Camilla Valley farms to use for singles storage as well.  The only thing keeping me from winding off my spinning wheel bobbins was that I had six.  There was no rush.  Truly, if all my tubes and spools get used, then I have a serious problem.

Anyway, that is enough for today.  But do come back to see tomorrow.  I am in the middle of a tale of woe that is...

Well come back tomorrow.