The Next Great Bag Search

 This first photo is for Jillian.  Just because. Orange Crystals on Pink yarn would be lovely I think.

OK.  On to the search.  A little background. I finally bought myself a travel wheel this year.  A Schacht Sidekick. I never found one that I loved enough to own before but this was the one.  It folds compactly and is easy to throw over your shoulder and take to classes, spin ins and guild meetings.  One drawback is that it's a bit too tall to take as a carry-on on an airplane.  So now I need to figure out how to transport the thing when I am going to teach at places that aren't in driving distance. SOAR is coming in just 3 weeks. I'm running out of time to plan my packing.

More background. When we went to Peru in November I went to Marshalls and purchased a hard side suitcase with spinner wheels.  Most hard side suitcases only come with spinner wheels these days. I filled it with fiber and a spinning wheel and a charkha.  It weighed just under 50 pounds with all of the stuff in it. I checked it in Detroit and the next time I saw it was in Lima when I had to pick up my bags for customs. Did it come off in Detroit or at the flight change in Florida? I don't know but for the rest of the trip that suitcase was horrible to drag around.

I save the receipt and the tags that came with the bag. No warranty on the wheels coming off when flying. Bummer.

So now I need another bag because that one went to the garbage. I want something hard sided and light weight since the Sidekick is 13 pounds. I also want something with some kind of guarantee. So I decided to go to the actual luggage store.

 The first bag we tried was a carry on size duffel with a zipper part in the bottom.  It didn't work because the drive wheel is a tiny bit too wide and about an inch too high.

 Not sure if this photo shows it very well...

 Here's another carry on bag...not cuttin' it.

 Camparison of size with another carry on.  Thing is, the wheel might work on its own as a carryon but I would hate to risk it. I've been on flights where they made me put my carry on under the plane. That would be sad.

 Another view.  So we started to look at other options.

 I like that one. There is a stretchy strap to keep it in place with a zippered bit that goes over top as well as room all around the wheel so I can wrap it in bubble wrap before packing it.  I wish it were a bright color but I can't complain too much. It's also very sturdy and resists very well when I try to push the sides in. This one also comes in silver.

 I like the look of that one (it's shiny) but it didn't have the extra protection of the stretchy band to go over the wheel. This one also comes in red.

 That one was a bit too small. Very little room around the edges and I want to be able to put some buffering all around before I trust it to an airplane.

 This is the from the same collection but bigger. I love the look of this one and the wheel fits very nicely and the interior is pretty lovely. No other colors are available.

 So we've narrowed it down to these three. Pretty, sturdy, shiny..

 Ok, I got rid of pretty because it wasn't as sturdy/strong as the other two. Then I had to make a final decision.

I went with very sturdy in silver.

Also, since I purchased this at the Samsonite store I get a 10 year warranty where the wheels are covered. The delightful person who was helping me (I forgot her name because I am a nit wit) was fantastic and yes, I could have gotten this cheaper on line. but I spent over an hour in the store and this woman was so helpful and smiley and put up with all of my pulling things down that I want their store to stay there. I will definitely shop there again.

Ashford Limited Edition 30" Elizabeth

Before I start talking about the new wheels I got in this week I just wanted to show you a bit of spinning that isn't a natural .  I've begun working again on the Mythos sweater I started last year.  I am almost to the halfway point and realized I won't have enough yarn so I spun up another 350 yards. It's three ply.

I've done a bit of searching and it seems I never talked about this project here on the blog.  Here is the link to the pattern.  I've spun some Australian wool top dyed by Chelsea.  If you are a member of Ravelry, the thread is in the Spinning Loft Group.  I talked about making Mythos and also Tappan Zee.  Tappan Zee is finished and I love it.  

I wear this sweater a lot.  It's practical and pretty. The pattern has no sleeves but I added 3/4 length sleeves to it.  The top is made from merino batts blended by Abby and the light pink is Corriedale/Alpaca dyed by Amy King.

Time to finish Mythos.

A little background on the Ashford Elizabeth.  I am a fan.  When I heard in the spring there would be a limited edition of 30 Inch wheels available I immediately asked for 2 with the double treadle option.  They are here now!  This post could be considered a review of both the 24 inch Elizabeth as well as the limited edition 30" as they are basically the same except for the drive wheel size.  (Also, the 30" has a split bench and the 24" wheel sits completely above the bench.....)

The grey plastic knob allows the spinner to adjust the position of the Mother of All to be in alignment with the drive wheel.  It has the capability of Scotch Tension as well as Double Drive.  I didn't try to set it up in Irish Tension.  I should try it.  Based on the position of the spring and brake band I'm not sure it will work very well though.  I'll check.

The larger knob here is for adjusting the position of the Mother of All for loosening and tightening the drive band.  The one on the right is the orifice hook which is stored there.  Here are my two little picky things about this.  If adjusting the MoA position I need to remove the hook as the handles are too close together for my hands.  Also, I am right handed and the hook is on the left sid of the bench when I am spinning so it's inconvenient to grab.

Under the bench there is another grey plastic knob which is tightened when the spinner gets the drive band tension just right.  Tightening this knob keeps the Mother of All from wiggling out of place.

Also under the bench is the signature which reads Richard and Elizabeth Ashford.  The 24" Elizabeths are not signed. (yes, it's up side down.)

This phot shows  the crank and where the crank shaft enters the uprights.  You can see the sealed bearings sitting in the upright.  There is one on each side of the drive wheel.  This addition makes this wheel spin effortlessly.  It makes such a huge difference in the spinning.  Really.

The crank design is pretty good but for me makes for a treadle stroke that I wish was a bit longer.  Again, that is a very picky complaint and not a HUGE problem.

Here she is from the audience side amidst all of the packing material I removed from the drive wheel.

And a view from the spinner's side.  So pretty.

This wheel came with the Ashford Competition Kate.  I love this lazy kate.  It's in my top 5 kates.  It's tensioned and very portable.  I was excited to see this included with this wheel.

So here are my thoughts.  I love this wheel.  I think for anyone looking for a production size spinning wheel or a wheel to spin fast and fine, this is a real contender.  As I said, treadling is  effortless and spinning on this wheel for long lengths of time would be not tiring at all.  

The flyer has 3 whorl sizes which give ratios of 10.5:1, 13.5:1 and 18:1.  There is a high speed kit available which would speed things up significantly but I found the 18:1 to be pretty great.  For longdraw spinning I'm sure I would want the faster ratios.

And one more very picky thing (and I say this about many Ashford products). I do not love the plastic/nylon knobs.  Just throws me a bit.  I'm glad the color has been changed in the last few years so they kind of blend into the background.

As you can see, I only had a few very picky things.  I definitely would own this wheel.

This is very tempting...do I need another wheel?

Oh, What a Month!

Deb Menz came over.  It was really hot so I got her a hotel room.  We had sleepovers.

 She taught a bit from the floor because i don;t have an easel and she's a good sport.

All the people worked really hard.

Then there was the assembly which took almost a full day!

 These are all of the dye books before they were books.

It was amazing.  We did 380 samples in 2 days of dying.  Well, not really we...mostly they.

I was so happy to finally get Deb to come and play with us.  I think it was 2 years of begging to get her to agree to come.  During the class she told us this would be the last time she would teach this class and there will only be two more opportunities to take a class with her before she moves on to other things.  I can't believe how lucky we were to get such a fantastic teacher before she stops teaching!

In other news...5 days before Deb arrived, Chelsea had her baby. 

This is the baby before we left the hospital.  She is darling and so tiny.

 I made her this little sweater that doesn't fit her yet...I should block it.

The day after Deb left I headed out to the western side of the state for 4 days of classes.  I taught a total of 7 classes at the Michigan Fiber Festival.  It was great fun.  My problem is that I forget to take pictures when I am teaching. So I bring you these two:

 snacks at the festival

and a really cute Tunis sheep

While I was at the festival I bought 2 sheep skins.  One from a Romney sheep and one from a Wensleydale.  I'll take a couple of photos and post them later this week for your enjoyment.  I now have those plus a Coopworth, an Icelandic lamb and one from Ikea that I don't know the breed.  I use them mostly for sitting on but I'm not sure that will be the fate of the Wensleydale.

 And this is a photo of my single treadle Matchless.  I get it signed by every teacher who comes to teach at my shop.  There is still plenty of room.

So that was my month.  How was yours?

I am in love...

 

And her name is Jacey Boggs.  I think she is smart and also pretty.

She came over, cause I invited her, and she taught us how to make really pretty yarns.  Friday, we had six hours of corespinning in her class called Soft Core Spinning.

She's magical. 

 And entertaining.

 Saturday was Boucle all day.  Those yarns above are Jacey's.

 These are her boucle swatches.

 This is some discarded boucle from a disgruntled student...it got better.

Boucle in progress a la Jillian Moreno of Spinning Tuesdays on the Knitty Blog and Knittyspin editor extraodinaire.  (if you didn't know about Knittyspin you aren't spending enough time with Knitty)

 This is my boucle.  the one on the right was my first yarn of the day.  I got better and learned what it really takes to get those little circles.

 Sunday was cables and crepes.  I worked all day really hard and forgot to take photos.  But here are some sample yarns I made in different thicknesses. 

 I made this one too.  It was not right but I think it's pretty anyway.  I needed more twist in my singles.

 At the end we made some supercoils and plied them.  It's kind of a crepe.  I'm making a necklace and bracelet from these.  I show ya when I'm done.  I've already been to the beads store.

 Also, sheep.

 Border Cheviot

 Clun Forest

 and a peacock

some cutie patootie donkeys

and a little closer spotted donkey.  So cute.  

Tons going on right now.  Deb Menz in a little over a week and then the Michigan Fiber Festival.  there are a couple of my classes that still have room.  You can still sign up!

Also, Amy King in September.  Why didn't you sign up yet.  It's gonna be great fun!  Check out the class descriptions here.