Oh yeah, this is a knitting blog…

After all of these opinions and media reviews, I am glad to announce that this post harkens back to some of my more normally scheduled blogging about knitting/spinning.

The fates have been against me- or more specifically, my tools. I have a GORGEOUS umbrella swift that has a crank at the top for winding skeins (purchase HERE). It is more comfortable than a niddy-noddy, and definitely more fun to use.

Anyway, there is a little plastic doohickey housed in the part behind the screw, and that came out. That is a critical little doohickey- without it, the screw scratches up my beautiful cherry swift something fierce. I called and the manufacturer (buy one, they're great), and he described how to fix it and told me that he would send me more plastic doohickeys right quick.


After spinning class, I noticed that my Schacht housing was … off. By off I mean that the ball bearing was flipped backwards and no amount of fiddling would get the "front" (the round part with the hole for the housing the flyer unit) to face out. It. Is. Stuck.

I tried to un-stick it. Andrew tried to un-stick it. No amount of fiddling or lubrication would get it to yield. I took it to Sandi to try and un-stick. No success. The wheel won't work if the ball bearing is backwards.

Now, this would stymie a normal person. Me? No way. Seeing as I prefer double-drive to Scotch tension on my Schacht, I convinced Andrew to help me (temporarily) cannibalize Sandi's wheel for its' housing and use it on my own wheel until either (a) I get a new housing for my wheel, or resolution for the current housing issue or (b) Saturday before spinning class.

Not spinning, obviously, was not an option with a 2 ½ hour movie ahead of me. I finished plying Gendarme! and began spinning Do You Believe In Magic. Oh, yes, after spinning it, I certainly do. You could even say that I'm a Believer. (Insert dorky chortle here.)

If Crown Mountain had a color called "I'm a Believer" it would have to be golds and oranges (for no other reason than that they're my favorite colors and I said so). I would also buy ten tons of it and just roll around in it until it was spun. [Photos of rolling around in roving pending.]

Let me segue way for a moment and talk about the Crown Mountain roving. It is HEAVENLY. If you spin, get some. It will change your life. If you don't spin, order some and learn to spin. It is really that good.

It practically spins itself and makes my spinning look entirely better than it actually is. I have four or five bumps left to spin before I go into Crown Mountain withdrawal and I have to go my local dealer and demand a fix. It's not pretty when I start a'twichin. Fiber, I argue, is more addictive than both heroin and cigarettes combined only because it is socially acceptable and makes one prettier and happier by it's sheer presence.

Let's see what the Schacht people have to say…