My new wheel

Warning: This is a totally pic heavy post!  :)

I purchased a new spinning wheel on the 4th.  There was a tale of drama and frustration surrounding that, but now that it's done, it seems unimportant.
The drama culminated such that the whole drive (in awful traffic) out to pick up the wheel was fraught with me thinking (and occasionally saying out loud) that this wheel had better be worth it!

Well, when I got there and saw it, I decided it was.  It is a pretty cute, if slightly odd, wheel.

Here she sits next to 'Elaine', my 70s model Ashford Traditional wheel.  It's not that Elaine is huge, it's just that the little wheel is rather little.

I've gone back and forth between Brighid, Brigantia, and Holda.  All three are mythological figures associated with spinning - although in the first two cases the association is rather looser than in the third.

'Elaine' was named for Elaine of Astolat (the Lady of Shalot), the maiden who loved Lancelot du Lac in Arthurian legend. Although I'd posted on facebook and ravelry that I'd decided on Brighid as the name of the little wheel, I've changed my mind and she will henceforth be known as Holda.  Holda is the germanic patroness of spinning.  The Brothers Grimm have a story about her called 'Frau Holle'.  So, this is my new wheel, named 'Holda'.  It's a more appropriate name than Brighid, as the wheel is undeniably german.  After posting pictures of the wheel all over Ravelry, I came across another Raveler who owns, by chance, the same wheel.  Hers came slightly less complete than mine, but it did come with the original instructions, which was useful.  As best as she was able to figure out, the wheel was manufactured as a kit in the 1980s by a German furniture company.  There are enough oddities about the wheel that it's pretty clear the wheel was not made by a spinner.

The wheel itself is wonderful lightweight.  She will be amazing for taking out to spin-ins.  She weighs a very light 10lbs has a very small profile.  Her flywheel is only 12.5" diameter.

The strangest thing about the wheel is the distaff.  In it's current placement, it's unusable.  It sits about 6" behind the flyer.  That's not a practical position for spinning of any type.  However, it is not a permanent fixture.  It can be easily removed and held while spinning.  I've tied a mohair and wool blend batt onto the distaff and have been spinning from it.  I have to say, it makes spinning infinitely easier!  Although I generally get a nice even thread while spinning, using the distaff seems to make that evenness pretty effortless.

It's a double drive wheel, meaning that the driveband goes around the flyer and the bobbin.  I've never spun on a double drive wheel before, so figuring out the tensioning was a bit unusual.  In the picture above, you can see the wooden knob on the rear maiden.  The upper part of the assembly unscrews, and then the lower part screws up to tighten everything up.  This pulls the flyer assembly up, which tightens the tension.

The flyer goes right through the front maiden, instead of having a separate bearing attached to the maiden.  That means in order to remove the flyer, the whole maiden has to be loosened and pulled back.  It's not a big deal, though.  There is only one bobbin, so until I get more bobbins made (or find more), I won't need to worry much about switching them out.

The flyer itself is also slightly odd, having only 4 hooks.  The top hook does not align with the end of the bobbin, either.  This is an easy fix.  I plan to remove the hooks, fill the flyer with wood filler, and put in 6 hooks, evenly spaced.


The treadle was a little clunky at first, but that was a veyr easy fix.  There were a few problems there.  First was that the conrod, the twine that attaches the footman to the treadle, was way too loose.  I cut it off (it was knotted too tightly for me to untie it) and replaced it with new twine.  I am going to get a thin leather strip to replace the twine, but for now, it's much better. 

The second problem was that the footman was apparently missing something to hold it securely to the crank on the wheel.  According to the diagram provided by my fellow raveler, there should be a small wooden bead there.  Not having a bead of the right size handy at the moment, I stuck a hair elastic on in it's place.  Totally solved the clunky treadle issue.

I have great plans for this wheel.  She will definitely be my primary summer wheel.  I plan to take Elaine apart to refinish her in a lovely red mahogany stain.  Re-finishing Elaine will take me the better part of the summer.  But after Elaine is done, it will be Holda's turn.  I am going to strip her right down and remove the current finish.  I'll be refinishing her in a very dark chestnut colour.  It's likely I will paint some small designs around the wheel and treadle.  My husband is going to cut and drill an arm for the distaff to pull it out in front of the flyer.  There is a fancy little decorative tip missing on top of the front maiden.  It serve no purpose, but I am going to pour a resin bead to put in there - I will probably put a small decal of a woman spinning in the bead.  The front of the wheel needs a small attachment to make it mroe secure.  Again, I will form this from poured resin.  When she is done, she is going to be a thing of beauty to behold!

I'll keep you updated.

Super quick cloth trainers

So this post has nothing to do with knitting - at all.  This is the post that pretty much confirms I've ventured into Mommy-blogging.  ;)
Maybe admitting my own tendency to talk about nothing but mommyhood and my own kid will now give me the freedom to blog more.  After all, let's face it, one tends to get very little knitting and spinning done with a very active toddler underfoot. 

The Mouselette is sort of potty training right now.  She was way into it a few months ago, right around the one year mark.  Not long after, she flat out quit.  She would clench her legs and literally vibrate with the effort of not peeing, then I'd turn my back, she'd stand up and pee beside the potty.  So we quit.  We started up again a few weeks ago, she was into it for a week, then quit on me again.  Then she decided she doesn't like having her diaper changed.  I figured out quickly that it's the whole interrupting-playtime thing that she doesn't like.  So we switched to pullups.  Problem - pullups (both cloth and disposable) are sooooo expensive.  But they are way easier to use right now.  Grab the little bum, whip off the wet diaper and whip on a dry one.  We can do a full (wet) diaper change in about 30 seconds. 

Last week, I was in the dollarstore and saw that they had little packages of little girl panties.  The smallest size they had was 4/5, but that worked!  I grabbed a pack to see if I could make them into pullups.  This was the result!  Please share it with your friends.  A 5 pack of panties was $1.50.  Bias tape is $2, elastic is $1.  That means for as little as $6 (counting for 2 packs of bias tape - only one pack of elastic was needed), you can make 5 pairs of pullup trainers.  The best part is how you can make them fit even the tiniest bums.  Most pullups (both cloth and disposable) are too big on Mouselette's tiny little bum.

I'll wait until tomorrow(ish) to post about my lovely new spinning wheel.  ;)  Yes... I got a second spinning wheel.  She's freaking adorable!!!!!  <3

Shop update

On January 15, my etsy shop re-opened under the name Mousewife Designs! 
I started a Facebook group (I'd love for you to join me there, if you haven't already).

The change from Mousewife Knits & Yarnables to Mousewife Designs was a natural decision.  Mousewife Knits seemed a much narrower focus, whereas Mousewife Designs encompasses much more of what I am using the name for.  It covers my knitting designs, as well as my spindle and jewelry designs.

I have been playing with silicone molds and polymer clay as well as wire-wrapping techniques to create designs that are as unique as they are beautiful.  I've been having a lot of fun, especially with the spindle making.  I've been experimenting with everything I can get my hands on: cold porcelain, polymer clay, resin.  I've even been mixing and matching media - coating cold porcelain in resin, finishing the wood shafts with resin.  Then there is finding different ways of tinting the resin for unique looks.  I recently learned that the jaquard acid dyes I use for dying wool also make amazing resin dyes.  Eyeshadow works beautifully, too, for a more opaque finish.  This is an amazing way to get a huge range of colours and use up eyeshadows that have expired.

This hasn't stopped me from designing, either.  I have been very busy on that front, having just had a "super secret project" accepted, finished, and submitted recently.  I will post more on that design in July, when the magazine is ready to hit the shelves.  :)

All in all, I have been busy.  Hopefully that busyness won't keep me from updating more often.

In the meantime, have a few more pictures of recently finished designs:

Raw, tumbled garnet gemstone earrings.

 Goldstone orifice hook.

Hematite orifice hook and howlite stitch markers.

Lavender Blue Fingerless Gloves.

Photography troubles

I'm having some trouble taking pictures.  I am not even close to a professional and I only have a little point-and-shoot camera.  I'm not very good at taking awesome professional pictures.

I have 4 white spindle bowls and a clear dish that need to be photographed.  Unfortunately, my light box is white, which is blinding them out, and using a sheet just doesn't look quite as nice.

I wonder if I could convince H to upgrade our camera...

So far, this is the best I have managed.  It's okay, but it's not the best I can do, and I know it.  I have a few more days to figure it out...

Find me on Facebook

Mousewife Designs has made  it's debut on Facebook.  Find me there and click "Like".  Facebook fans and friends will enjoy 20% off in my first two weeks of business.  Plus, you will enjoy extra coupons, savings, and chances to win free stuff.
https://www.facebook.com/MousewifeDesigns

See you there. 

Merry Christmas!

The New Mousewife store

I've been off on a rather long hiatus.  I cannot promise to update my blog more than sporatically, but I do hope to update a little more often than I have been doing lately (which is to say, more than not at all).

I've been up to a lot just lately.  Most of my attention has been focused on the rapidly growing little Mouselette.  I can hardly believe how big she has gotten.

But aside from my life revolving around motherhood, I've been very busy designing, submitting, accepting rejections gracefully, designing more, submitting more, etc.  I try to keep finding time to sit and spin.  I spoiled myself with a tahkli spindle this fall, as well as a WooLee Winder for my spinning wheel (Christmas gift).

But mostly, over the last month, I have been prepping to re-open my etsy shop.

I shut down my shop when Mouselette was born.  I just did not have the time or energy to keep up with it.  I still don't have the time or the space to keep up with creating spinning batts and handpainted yarn and roving.  But what I have been getting back into lately has been my love of clay.

I've been making polymer clay spindles, crafting knitting needles with fancy little toppers, making stitch markers, carving crochet hooks, and doing all sorts of little things like this while Mouselette eats and/or naps.  So, as of January 15, 2013, Mousewife Knits and Yarnables will be re-opening with a new focus.

Here's a sneak peak:

handwoven project bags.

 bead whorl spindles and spindle bowls.

knitting needles
and even handcarved nalbinding needles.

There will be the occasional bit of roving, batt, or yarn, but it won't be the primary focus of the shop anymore.