Prelude and other Goings on

My wheel arrived on Friday afternoon, and now I am in the process of finishing it. I am using tung oil to finish it. Last night I spent about 2 hours doing the first coat, but this morning it only about 45 minutes to do the second coat. Maybe tomorrow I can put it together.

I was a bit amused by the packing methods of Kromski. There was absolutely nothing wrong with how they packed it, but I was amused that sheets from a Polish grocery add were used as filler.

Paradise Fibers, the company I ordered the wheel from, has a great policy that buyers get $40 of free fiber when they purchase a wheel (other companies have similar policies that include How-To books or DVDs or assembly if you can get to the store and pick up the wheel). Anyway, I got 8 ounces of White Norwegian Top, Grey Jacob Top, and Light Grey Alpaca. Alpaca...wow. I had never felt unspun alpaca. The Norwegian and Jacob had an end available in the bag, but the alpaca end is hidden somewhere, and frankly, I'm a bit scared to try to find it. I have the feeling that if I try to apply any force to it, it will just fall apart. I'm a bit intimidated by the thought of spinning it, but if I can manage it, it should turn out great!

In other news, I was working on a shapeless mess of a sweater that was intended to be worn while I read, knit, work on the computer, or do some other sedentary task that keeps my arms mostly in front of my body. Frankly, other than the fact that the body it about 5 sizes too big, it worked out fine. Not something I would share with people, but it'll certainly keep my warm. Well, I am mostly done with it, all I have to do are the sleeves, and after all that time of watching me work on it, now my daughter wants a sweater out of the same yarn. I have plenty of it left, but I need to be more careful with my gauge and sizing, so there will be a children's sweater with buttons coming sometime before Christmas.

I've been doing quite a bit of knitting lately and will update you on the things I have finished/am working on sometime next week. Hopefully that will help me get back on schedule, though I imagine one my wheel is up and spinning, I'll have plenty to talk about. Until then...get crafty, and have some fun!

I assume it's Polish anyway...