Last week was a pile of work, RiverChor had their first concert, which meant practice, practice, practice, stress about dresses being in, and getting ties and scarves ready to hand out. It was also starting to get cold and dreary, and well…..retail therapy just popped up and said ‘Do it!!!’.
It all started with this lovely green and brown batt…..it is Merino/Alpaca/Tencel titled ‘Pining Away’ made by Abby Franquemont, and purchased from Spunky Eclectic. You may ask why I purchased batts when I can make my own…..I’ve gotta be honest, there’s tremendous pressure to not screw up your own fiber. So I do occasionally like to sample other people’s cooking.
And well…..I could hardly spin an Abby Batt on my Lendrum. One, it’s too slow, and well…..I needed an excuse to buy a Golding Ring Spindle. This lovely is of Lignum Vitae on a Walnut shaft and weighs 0.65 oz. We got a serious kick out the shoe box sized package it came from….big box, tons of packing peanuts….itty bitty spindle. It is beautiful and spins like a champ. I’m going to have no trouble making miles and miles of lace yarn from my 3 (gulp) batts. It is going to be a lovely shawl when I am done. Someday!
I’m going to be honest and say that I hadn’t planned on this next purchase quite so soon. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into looms since Wisconsin Sheep and Wool. I really enjoyed the fun and creative things being made in the SAORI booth, but $2000 for a 4 shaft loom is just not in the budget. SAORI is more about the fun of weaving rather than the equipment, and I know I’d want to do more traditional weaving as well, so I looked for a good small and portable (to use upstairs and down) and quiet option. The Louet Kombo 70 fit all those qualifications, plus 8 shafts, and has a treadle option, making it a floor loom as well. It looked like a good compromise between space and functionality. So on a whim, I posted an ISO listing on Craigslist. Look what came home with me today!!
I’ve got 5 or so projects already thought up for this lovely loom, now just to have time to warp it up and get going. It may have to wait some, Cyber Monday is really close, and I know I’ll be knitting scarves like crazy.
I’m going to do my best to get a yarn update done this weekend. I’ve got new improved dyes, and WOW, the colors are really amazing. I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.
