Last week was busy.
It was school vacation week so even though we homeschool, we still take the regular public school’s vacation so 8goingon20 can have time with her friends. And we did. With girl scouts events and playdates, it was a full week. We also got out club last week and somehow I was able to put up a couple of updates. It was probably all thanks to Lesley and Sara. Thanks guys, you’re awesome.

I was able to get a wee bit of spinning done and a little knitting through all that.

That’s my Tara Shawl. It’s not so Mysterious anymore now that Sandi finished hers. You can see hers on the Ravelry page for Tara. I spun my edging yarn but couldn’t decide on a middle color. I wanted to see how the striping end played out and then I’d decide. I finally decided on an orange color. That is what’s shown at the top of the photo. The lace isn’t really all that pretty since I didn’t bother to pin it out. I figured with the photos from the others, you can see what it’s supposed to look like. Mine will get done eventually.

Today is supposed to be fairly hot for here. I wish the plan was to spin and knit outside (of course everything I do will be flawless) while my well behaved and darling children quickly finished all their appointed schoolwork for the day early, then they would clean the house for me, and finally they’d come outside to play without yelling or fighting and we’d all have a grand time……ahem. Today is school, work, fighting children, gardening, and then maybe spinning or knitting outside before we have to rush off to girl scouts for the evening. Hopefully soon I’ll have some real progress to show.

What’s on the spindles lately?
Well. I have quite a few and a good number of spindles have something on them. Though, usually I have a focus on just a few at any given time. I decided I needed to photograph my current favorite spindle projects.

Treadmill projects:

Cascade Mt Baker. This is one of my favorites. I just finished some Enchanted Knoll batts singles and so I started on some Southern Cross Batts I got.

My other treadmill project is plying. I’m not done spinning Mole but I wanted to ply what I had. These are some of the Abby Franquemont batts. I’m about half done with the singles. I had filled up the spindles and didn’t get to plying until a couple of days ago or I might have finished that as well. I am trying a different plying method with these as opposed to my usual plant pot method.

House projects:

I’m still plugging away at Lotus. The singles are usually something I take with me when I travel and then I do the plying here at home. I did the little plied skein while on the treadmill. So the lotus goes across the board but I don’t work on it much at all. I’m thinking of switching it out and making it one of my treadmill projects and taking Baker on the road in the upcoming months.

This is the Tabacheck I got from The Spinning Loft. It’s munching on some of my Superwash Merino Heather Batts. They’re coming out prettier than I thought they would. It was a lonely batt that hadn’t sold (I’ve been cleaning up the shop). I can see why because it’s not pretty in the batt but it will be a gorgeous yarn.

Work projects:

This is the spindle that sits with me at the counter in the shop. It’s a Wee Turkish Spindle (Turkish Delight) from Jenkins. The Batt is another “clean up” batt but this time it’s a luxury. It’s an Abby Batt in Dreamsicle. It’s such a fun spin. I think I need another Wee Turkish. Or many more….

Last but not least is my Kundert project. I had a few pieces of random CorriePaca in Sangria so I decided they needed to be spun worsted on my Kundert Denim Pine. I’m always amazed by my Kundert spindles. I keep forgetting how much I truly love spinning with these.

Has her sweater.

I don’t know why she looks angry. Ok, I knew at the time but I’ve since forgotten what it was. My children aren’t exactly morning people. She did tell me that she wanted to stay in bed. Good luck with that one kiddo. The mood quickly improved and she wore it all day.

Left to right:
1. Bosworth
Open, pop out treadles, put in locks
2. Little Bee
Lower foot support, Pull tab and lift up top, make sure tab locks
3. Victoria
Pull tab and lift up, Attach Footman, Attach Bobbin and flyer
4. Hitchiker
Attach the flyer and bobbin

I lined them all up because I’ve read reviews of people comparing the Little Bee to one or another at some time. I don’t plan on writing an extensive review of all of them at this time but I wanted to be able to compare a few at least in size and ease of set up.

Little Bee

Is it easy to set up? (+)
Yup. It’s not heavy. It would be easier to carrier with the tote that is offered but it’s not difficult as it is. Though I also don’t have a problem carrying any of the other 3 I’ve mentioned above either. They’re made to be portable and that they are. It’s also a simple set up. If you note above, I mention the steps to setting up each of the 4 wheels I wanted to talk about and this is easy. Just be mindful when you pull out the knob to release the wheel to close it up again. It will come down fast so you need to hang on to it or keep your hands out of the way.

Bobbin size(+)
It’s about a 4 ounce bobbin. I heard some people mention that they were excited to see a small portable wheel with a giant bobbin. I can get the same on this as I can on the Victoria. 4 ounces comfortably. Personally I don’t like a giant bobbin unless I’m doing novelty anyway so 4 ounces is plenty.

Tensioning system (-)
It’s the same as the Mach1. Sort of. The Mach 1 and Bee have enclosed scotch tension system. It means that unless you are quite experienced, you can’t change the system like you can on most other wheels. Like I often change the springs out for hair elastics because I can get a much touchier/accurate working The pain in the butt about the Mach1 tensioning is that it’s on top and thus always riding the brake so to speak. The Little Bee has the tensioner on the side. I have to say this isn’t my favorite tensioning system. I’m going to monkey with it to see if I can make improvements to make it work how I prefer. As of now though it’s not at a level that I prefer to make certain types of yarns. It’s good for the average yarn but something like a fine fine long draw gossamer, it’s not quite there. Many wheels need to be monkeyed with but this is a difficult case since the tensioner is all enclosed. I’ll let you know if I come up with something.

The treadling
This is what I hear drives so many people to the Mach1 and now the Bee. The Bee is uncomfortable for me to treadle. The Mach1 was easier to get footing and to treadle and I could keep it running happily with one foot. The Bee’s treadles aren’t centered so it’s an odd feeling when you’re using one foot. If I use 2 feet then the slowly slide off. I was trying to be really conscious and keep them going but they kept sliding back. Finally I found a footing that worked but it wasn’t comfortable. This may be one of those cases where it’s a “user” thing and this is why we say to people to try wheels before they buy. My legs ached after working with this for 20 minutes. I worked in short intervals over a couple of days to complete a few hours time on the wheel but the problem persists for me.

The speed.
yup. It goes fast. The drive band that came with mine was too short to adjust it to the 35:1 ratio so I wasn’t able to do that one unless I got a new drive band. Changing the band from one ratio to another at the base (you change things at the main drive wheel and the accelerator wheel to make it faster or slower) was a pain in the butt. Presumably so because mine was too short to move to the larger size of the Main drive wheel it wasn’t cooperating. I played with all the other ratios except that one. All the rest worked well.

Overview
This wheel like all the others has pluses and minuses. The treadling problem I had is a personal thing. I urge people to try this before purchase as I do with any new wheel. The treadling may fit your body type perfectly. It’s not a bad wheel and if it’s comfortable for you and you are ok with the tensioning system then this might just be the wheel for you. Lucky for us (who are all so different) there are so many different wheels out there available to us that we can all find a travel wheel that will suit us.

This wasn’t all done over the weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve posted yarns.

It’s singles made from a Soy BFL blend from Ewe Give me the Knits

More singles from April’s club fiber offering from Souther Cross Fibre

3 ply spun from batts from Woolly Wonders

This is just a better photo of the yarn I’m using for Tara

Last but not least:

I finished plying the burgundy stuff for a stripey vest. There’s way more there than I need for a simple vest. Actually there is probably enough there for a sweater but I’ve got in mind to make a vest. David and Adrian made manly ones. I have plans to girl it up a bit. I only have a few other projects to finish first so it’s going to sit with other finished yarn for large projects and I’ll get to it as soon as I can.