The Spinning Wheel & The Naughty Step

Hello darlings - I've MISSED you!

Yes I'm aware it's Wednesday, I have a very very good reason for not posting yesterday. You see, school went back on Tuesday, which means I got the house to myself FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER TWO WEEKS! I did try to write to you, but I found my attention wandering every time I sat down at the computer. The computer is in the same room as my spinning wheel, you see. I don't have anywhere else in the house for it to go, which means that unless we move to a bigger place it is going to sit behind me and stare at me from across the room. Usually this is something I can ignore during working hours, but not yesterday.

What made yesterday so special? Well, it's all because of Friday night. Last Friday night I decided I was going to spin. We'd decided on a movie to all enjoy together and I decided I'd try and catch up on all the not-spinning I'd done for Tour de Fleece this year. I had managed to spin up a bobbin of a very fine single for Liebling's Robin Hoodie that I offered to make him two years ago (don't judge me, my record is 3 years for a WiP, so I'm doing fine with this one). The plan was to chain ply the single into a fingering weight yarn to add to the slowly growing pile for the project. 

So, I sat down at my wheel (a dark wood Ashford Traditional named Boadicea, I call her Boadi for short) and started plying away. The lazy kate would squeak every so often, but that sometimes happens as it's old and I think the posts need a little cleaning, so I didn't think too much of it. But then I started getting a bit of extra tug from the bobbin I was plying from. That was definitely not usual. But again, I ignored it, thinking that one I was done with that bobbin I should add a bit of oil to the posts.

At some point the single stopped feeding off the bobbin and the entire process came to a screeching halt. I gave in and took the bobbin off the lazy kate and this is what I got.

Yes, there is a bobbin in that photo, it's just in pieces. See, both ends decided to make a run for it at the same time while I was plying. I did manage to salvage most of the yarn. Good thing, too, as it's yarn for Liebling's Robbin Hoodie that I have custom dyed and blended for him...over a year ago and I'm not sure I wrote down the five different colours I used...

Anyhow, I was so mad that I angry tweeted about it, got myself a glass of wine and put Boadi on the naughty step (hey Claire, you've rubbed off on me!). I figured I'd be back later in the weekend after I'd calmed down and was ready to forgive her and bobbin for their horrible troll. 

I wasn't ready to talk it out with her until Monday night. 

Boadi and I managed to sort out the mess, with only a little profanity, and I came away with probably only about 3 metres lost to irreversible tangling. In the end, I got three bobbins worth of a 3-ply fingering weight yarn for the jumper and Boadi and I were back on speaking terms. 

You see now, when Tuesday morning rolled around and Boadi and I were still in the throws of our second honeymoon, how I couldn't resist her call from the other side of the room? So, instead of reclaiming my kitchen or doing my real job, I took a fibre daycation and revelled in our newfound euphoria.

We frolicked in the stash (both yarn and fleece), I flicked through my pattern books and Ravelry library and showed her all the lovelies I dreamed of making. I pulled out my knitting journal and sketched out the initial design for my SuperSecretShawlOfGothsom, something only Boadi has seen so far, and she promises she wont blab. And, of course, we spun.

       

By the end of the day we had gone over 4 kilometres together, between the singles and the plying, and it was delightful. I collapsed into bed tired and in need of a massage. (Thank you Liebling for that, btw.) Jealous? You should be, it was exactly what I needed after all of the awesome that was school holidays. 

   

P.S. I managed to find the other half of the bobbin. It was in my shoe. Don't ask me why, I have no clue and am refusing to ask questions. I will acknowledge the irony that I've been saying to everyone in my house that my bobbin end has "gone on walkabout" and it happened to find its way into my shoe. Bobbin gets extra points for being cheeky. I suppose it's just one more reason to love Boadi, she's got my sense of humour...

Enjoying the blog?     It takes a lot of caffeine and yarn to make this happen! ;)