Spinning...

... Is really quite fun. I did get some actual work done today, but I spent an awful lot of time thinking about spinning.

I am not fast. I am not good. But I am having fun. I started with a top whorl spindle made from a 2 inch wooden car wheel, a 1/2 inch cup hook, and a 12 inch long 1/4 inch dowel. It worked. That was when I was impatient about getting the spindle I ordered, which I assumed would be much better than mine.



I had ordered some wool to spin, and it was (is) so soft, and pretty natural color... super nice to feel, but I had a hard time getting it to spin even... It is put aside now till I get just a little better.









A few days after I made my own spindle, I got 2 packages in the mail. one of them contained the spindle I bought. would you guess, there were only 3 small differences between it and the one I made. 1, they used a 1.5 inch wood car wheel, lol. 2, they used a bigger cup hook, go figure. and 3, they tapered the end to a point. The only difference I actually think I liked was the tapered end, and that only asthetically... its a drop spindle... the end doesn't REALLY matter.




The other package was a very thoughtful and highly apreciated gift from one of the members of my favorite Diaper Sewing Board, Diaper Sewing Divas. She sent me a bottom whorl drop spindle, handmade, with a painted whorl and both ends tapered, no hook at all. And, she sent a nice big ball of fiber to spin. Shetland, which I have now found is a much better starting fiber, though I am not sure exactly what I will make with the finished yarn, as shetland isn't the softest. But, I am now spinning that fiber, and really enjoying it. It is much easier to spin, and I have spun most of the spindle full.



The spindle I bought also came with "a handful of random fiber floof" I spun that, and it too was easier than the super soft wool I bought. I made a mini-mini-mini skein, lol... it might be a few yards long... (I navajo plied it... I could not figure out any way to do regular plying... with only one single... besides, the navajo plying seemed easier, somehow.)



One day I'll get my hubby to drill some holes in a peice of wood to make me a lazy kate for spindles.

heck, one day, I'll probably find a way to get a spinning wheel, too. cause I am having tons of fun.



Oh, and two year old Beeba 1 saw me "playing" with my spindles. he had to have one. so, for the whole under a dollar it took, I put a spindle together just for him.

Then I was at the craft store and saw this little wooden Disc. A little over the 2 inch circumference of my big wheel, but it weighs the same as the 1.5 inch wheel on the spindle I bought. I figured, hey, it costs all of 12 cents, why not grab it?

So I did. I had my hubby drill me a hole in the center, big enough for the dowel I already had, and there was a spindle whorl. But I already had 3 spindles. and I only started spinning last week... so there had to be an excuse to make another one, right? well, the excuse was that I have seen so many super cute decorated ones online, (and really want them all, lol... ) that I should have a more decorated one too. Plus, I wanted to try every kind of spindle I can... see what is best for me.



So this one is .5 ounces, made with more evenly distributed weight whorl rather than center distributed, with a spindle length of 9 inches total, and 8 below the whorl.








It spins really well, too. so, I have 4 spindles now. and what do you think, I have favorites. 2 favorites, actually. They are tied. The spindle given to me, and the most recent decorated one. Different reasons.

For the spindle I was given, part of the reason I like it is because it was given. Something about the fact that it was handmade for me, the the good feelings thus infused in it. Also, my first mostly even yarn was spun on it. (I have now, by the way, plied that single as well... but it is still on the bigger spindle, waiting for more yarn to be added, or waiting to be taken off and skeined. I still have about an ounce of that wool to spin...)

The new decorated spindle I like a lot too. I like that is it is light, and spins really easy, and that it is super pretty, and makes me smile. I like to see the gold paint glinting off it as it spins, and I like that I actually have been doing pretty good spinning on it, too. I also like its shorter length... it makes me feel like it would be easier to travel with. and I like that it has a hook, because I can spin faster without doing a half-hitch... though I am sure I will use the turkish style spindle I was given quite often too.

third favorite is the spindle I made first, believe it or not. I like that I did not spend a bunch of money on it. I like that it does spin well. It is slightly heavier... at a whole .7 oz, lol... and it is bigger than the other spindles I like best by a few inches. I like it for plying. I am sure there are better spindles... but I like it ok.

and my least favorite is the one I bought. Of course, there are reasons for that, too. 1, I paid $5 plus shipping for something that as I look at it, I could have made for a dollar. 2, it seems out of proportion somehow, with a 12 inch length and a tiny little wheel whorl. and 3, I think for something that was bought, it would have been nice if it didn't look like the whole thing was bought and thrown together from craft store supplies in 5 minutes.

Having only 1 car...

...is no fun at all.

Earlier this week, my husband's 13 year old car finally died. We could not afford to spend 3 time its value on fixing it, so, bu-bye car.

On the one hand, this will speed up the process of getting a new car (I want a minivan, so I can fit the kids AND family into it, or the kids AND luggage in it on long trips... you get the idea).

On the other hand, this will also mean that we are a one car family for a while. and I am already feeling the effects of that. My husband isn't. Oh no, he gets first priority on the car, don't you know.

I, on the other hand, missed Beeba 1's library program this week because while the library is in walking distance, it really isn't when it rains all day. and I will be missing my Le Leche League meeting this morning, because he needs the car to go to meetings today.

The only time I have been out of the house this week was to go to the grocery store, which meant I missed the bedtime routine for Beeba 1, and because the one aspect of cloth diapering my husband has never figured out is what to put him in for overnight, he put my poor beeba 1 in a trashie!

It really feels wrong for me to have to feel guilty about wanting the car for a day, so I can get errands done. But, despite the fact that I have always had certain things I do with the kids on a very regular basis, my husband cannot schedule around us, because his work schedules the meetings, not him.

So, I feel frustrated and angry, but really, I cannot get angry at him. But I do, because I don't have anyone else to be angry at. It isn't fair to either him or me, and I feel guilty. Which means I still wind up feeling it more than him...

We'll get through it. We have done the one car thing before. But then, we only had 1 child, too, and it didn't feel as rotten. Now, with 2 kids, I DEPEND on getting out of the house once or twice a week. those few hours around other adults really do a lot to keep me sane. I love my kids, but they are not the most stimulating conversationalists.

The sale is done, On to the next steps

Well, THe Grand Opening sale is over, the Auction is done, the Lotterys are won.

Now, I just wait for payments to come in for the last couple items, and it will be time to start working on the next stocking.

In the next Stocking of Beeba Bottoms @ HC, you can expect to see at least one set, including an embroidered onesie/shirt and a coordinating embroidered pocket diaper or fitted diaper and embroidered cover.

I also intend to have a couple more keychain diapers up for sale, and several new fitted diapers.