Jester blanket

A fun and usable centre out reversible baby blanket with a knitted on edging. £3.00

knit on circular needles, this knit is shown in Cat.inna.hat creation's Wow, super aran!, in colourway Over the rainbow and Teal, and measures 43x33.5”/110x85cm

the wheel turns

My spinning wheel is an Ashford Traditional, an extended sub-loan from a home-ed contact, the second Traditional I have had the pleasure of borrowing.

Some "modifications" of the system have been made(nothing permanent, don't worry wheel owner!). I prefer to have a cotton thread on the scotch tension, rather than the plastic one. It wears out, but bees wax helps. The drive band is also now just cotton "thrums". These 2 system mods are really down to laziness, as I can't be bothered to find real replacements, I guess. Or on a more positive note, maybe it is "lateral thinking when faced with a problem". I am sure that is what my parents would have written on the LEA report, had this been 10 years ago!

Below are pictures of the parts The Man has produced for me.

I checked out some of the flyers available for Ashfords, and was, er, unimpressed at the price asked for them. A bit of math to work out the ratios I was after and only a small amount of begging, and He made me the above flyer. The drive cog is interchangable, and the arms of the flyer at a better angle than the one the Ashford comes with, so now there will be no "rubbing" before my yarn falls off the ends of the bobbin, from lack of space!

The last pic is the lazy kate that belongs with the Ashford, plus my hefty stash of new bobbins He created for me.

The ashford is a really easy wheel to learn on. I did get to try a couple of others before I was lent one, and it was the Ashford that really made it all "click". Now though I prefer an upright, as it helps me position myself more centrally to my work. When you spin for hours at a time you can get very lop-sided!

I am hoping that one day I will get a wheel made to all my specifications and style choices, but until the kitchen, conservatory, porch, attic conversion and brick shed are complete, I think I won't push it.

next craft room post will feature the sewing machine!