A Wheel!

Ok, folks..some of you know I've been lusting after a wheel for freaking ever. I've been putting lil bits of money into a jar at my house, haunting Craigslist on a daily basis and generally believing that 'the right' wheel would present itself at the right time, keeping all that universal karma copacetic, yada yada yada.

Sure enough, it did and I did and now we have what appears to be a homemade, handmade spinning wheel here at the house along with a set of carders and a box of horribly deteriorated quilts with a lot of perfectly useable wool batting in between the layers. It needs some fixing up and I'm scheduling with my LYS's spinning instructor to go over it and figure out how to make it go but it looks damn good as is..someone loved this wheel and now I do too.

Look at how carefully someone repaired this split in the wheel...

The carders are interesting also..they have "M Ward" imprinted faintly on the back and appear to be in reasonable shape although I'll have to let Meg be the judge of that..

Better still yet, my new 'face to face' knitting buddy Cat sent me a surprise today from an Etsy vendor..a beautiful set of glass lamp bead cat stitch markers with a cool pin of a big orange cat (much like our beloved Em) with a red, white and blue sweatband on her cranky looking head! Too cute! The stitch markers will surely help with the Icelandic shawl as it is trying to kick my butt. Thanks Cat! Meeting you was awesome, calling you my friend is even better! I'll post pics of the markers tomorrow when I get my camera into the office!

Obsessed

I've come to the conclusion that obsessive and knitter go hand in hand. If this isn't true, I don't really want to know!

I've been obsessively swatching for my first sweater and was AMAZED last night at my LYS when Zoe said "I don't want to bust your bubble but you should swatch again" and I didn't lose it..I didn't get upset, I said "ok, if that's what you think" and here I am swatching again with new needles that I actually intend to USE to knit this sweater.

Never mind the new obsession with Lantern Moon needles and my firm conviction that I must have one of EVERY size possible in Ebony or Blond wood like yesterday.

On a different note, I'm very excited to be travelling to Raleigh, NC next week and an opportunity to meet Cat, the owner of a group I help moderate, I Love KandCAlongs!

Just a short update...I'd do pics but my home computer no longer 'see's' my digital camera so it's a pain..We have new laptops on the way so soon it will be better!