Suzie Gets a New Friend

The spinning obsession shows no sign of fading. Last year, I became interested in a little wheel made in Washington by a man named Doug Dodd. Mrs. Dodd was an active member of a local spinning group but found it difficult to transport her spinning wheel to meetings, due to health problems, so her husband offered to make her a lighter, more portable wheel. He produced a little wheel that he named, "The Pocket Wheel" and its introduction to the spinning group caused such excitement that he found himself with numerous orders.

I continued to do research on the little wheel and it seemed that people who owned them loved them. For me, the wheel was interesting for a number of reasons, but primarily because the elevated treadles seemed ideal for a vertically challenged person such as I. It was also an elegantly simple design that I found very appealing. Then, in the spring of 2009, Mrs. Dodd died and her husband posted a statement on his website that he would fulfill the present orders but take no more. Disappointed, but undaunted, I set about finding a used PW but to no avail.

Interest in the Pocket Wheel continued to grow and the news on Ravelry filled my heart with new cause to hope--a new woodworker (married to a spinner) stepped in to take up the lathe.
He announced that he would work with Mr. Dodd to finish the backlog of orders and take new ones in 2010, commencing April 1, 2010.

On March 31, midnight, a host of PW groupies staked out the new website and, by noon the next day, Jon McCoy, the new PW maker had at least 15 orders for new wheels. I was #4 on the list and hoped to receive my wheel this fall. In the meantime, however, I came across a notice on Ravelry from someone who had one of Doug Dodd's last wheels, purchased at a fiber festival and still in its box, never assembled. I pounced and now it belongs to me!

Since the new little wheel is less than half the weight of my Majacraft Suzie and takes up no more space than a large tote bag, I'm looking forward to taking it out and about with me this summer, including a trip with Paul to the Dayton "Hamvention." I plan to hold my own Lambvention.

A New Aunt Julie

When I was a little girl, I had a favorite aunt. She was my mother's good friend, so we weren't really related but when I was born, she was selected to be my Godmother. I was given her name, Julia, for my middle name and I loved my Aunt Julie. I didn't see her a great deal but when we were together, I remember how much we laughed. It was always such fun to be with her.

Years later, I gave birth to a little girl and we named her Julia. Now, there's Lilly and we have an "Aunt Julie" in our family again. I hope that Lilly enjoys her Aunt Julie as much as I did mine.

Spring Spin-In

Here are some photos of the wonderful spin gathering that I attended on Saturday. As you can see, the weather was ideal. A spring breeze kept us from being too warm in the bright sunshine.

We took turns holding this little black lamb, who cuddled like a kitten and seemed to enjoy the attention. Mama, however, was beside herself, bleating pitifully and wandering around the field in search of her baby. When the lamb was released inside the fence, the mother tore across the field, making little joyous cries that were easily translated, "You're back, you're back! Thank goodness, you're back!"









Our hostess also brought out one of her alpaca's for us to see firsthand. He was not as happy as the lamb, but allowed us, begrudingly, to pet him. At the end of the day, we enjoyed a sheep herding demonstration, starring Tess, a beautiful Border Collie who, despite serious vision problems, did a remarkable job of moving the small herd across the field. Since the seven lambs in the group were less than a month old, their mothers were still acting very protective of their babies and this further complicated Tess' work. At one point, one of the moms stopped suddenly and kicked backwards at the dog. Fortunately, Tess was able to dodge the blows and she was not deterred. Charging forward, she moved to the ewe's flank and gave her a little nudge, as if to say, "I'm in charge of this operation, Lady. Get moving."

I'm a Fairy Spinmother!

Recently, I read a post on Ravelry, from someone who wanted to learn to spin and I just happened to know that a spinning meet-up was going to be in her area the following weekend. I was planning on attending and invited her to come. In the meantime, she called to RSVP and discovered that the hostess also gave lessons. By the time of the gathering, the young lady had already taken a lesson and secured a loaner wheel. When we all departed after the spin-in, she’d spun two bobbins of singles, plied them and had a full skein of her first yarn ready to wash, whack, and knit. I was so proud!!! This is the anniversary of my first year spinning and I couldn’t have gotten a nicer gift!

Snowmageddon 2010

Just a few weeks ago, this is how my town looked...

It Wasn't Me!

I can't believe that it's been so long since my last post. All I can say is that it's the computer's fault. My friendly old Mac finally started to show it's age. It gradually ran slower and slower and slower until I was threatened to fix it with my trusty hammer. Mr. Fixitall bought it some new memory--wish I could get some of that--and a new operating system. Things are still a little fishy, but I'm able to use the computer now.

My apologies to both of my readers.

New Baby

This week we celebrated a milestone--our first grandchild was born on Wednesday afternoon. Her name is Lillian and the new family seems to be doing well. I'm not sure I'm ready to think of myself as a grandmother, but I promise to work on it.

Here's a shot of Mom and Dad with their little girl.