I spent the weekend largely on the autoknitter, and have been rewarded with this: In case it’s hard to tell, that’s a grand total of 5 pairs of socks. Now, frankly, I think I’m going to get 3 pairs for real, and end up ripping the other 2. I have another pair mid-rip — some […]

In which Abby receives her birthday present from Chad, a vintage Autoknitter (Circular Sock Machine), and accomplishes nothing which is particularly productive as a result.

Uploaded photos, cropped, edited, updated blog, 1 hour. Made list of drafts to write in January, roughed out outlines for three of them; 90 minutes. Cleaned the drum carder. Medium cleaning, not a super-deep clean, but beyond just cleaning the drums. 30 minutes. Did 2 blends to use up bombyx silk seconds (the top got […]

Spun on spindle while waiting at the periodontist; about 20-30 minutes in the waiting room. I could have spun a lot more but I had no idea I was going to wind up just sitting and waiting as much as I did once I was actually in the chair, so my bag with my spinning […]

As published in Fiber Femmes, January 2007

Knitting is SLOW!

So far this decade… well, century… hrmmm, milennium at that! I’ve found the even number years to be rough, tough, and challenging, with the odd number years much less eventful. However, I don’t know that I expect 2007 to be uneventful or unchallenging, what with a fledgling business in play now and everything! I’ve got […]

Louet’s new unbelievably tiny portable powerhouse is also finally a flyer lead scotch tension wheel, robust enough to fit almost every need! Read the details in my real-world test report.

This year, I hadn’t planned on any knit, crochet, or woven Christmas stuff. And usually when I do make such plans, they’re for crochet items, which are significantly faster. But then, as it happened, I had a yarn that I wanted to swatch for photos, and so sometime in late October I decided I’d combine […]

The Basics of Spinning Wheel Drive Ratios Spinning wheels are pulley systems. Changing ratios is basically the same principle as changing gears on a bicycle, except instead of sprockets and chains, you’ve got pulleys and drive bands. Simply put, a ratio of 5:1 means that the drive wheel’s circumference is 5 times that of the […]