Life is Definitely Sweet!

I was so excited today. I received a call from a woman who was having a yard sale for a 90-yo neighbor who was a sister craft artist. I'm sure you think I do a lot, but this woman was extraordinary. She not only spun and wove, dyed and crocheted, but she also made baskets, painted and was involved in sewing and 4-H. She was more of a Jet than I am sometimes. However, she had for people who did spin and weave or whatever crafts they did, a discount on her craft items. I bought a LeClerc Nilus loom (4 harness) for a really good price and she is including a Navaho loom as well including the stand. Both looms are already warped, so it will save me a bit of trouble when I go to weave something. We're picking them up on Saturday. She also had an identical Ashford traditional spinning wheel with the original paperwork from the 1960's. The first Ashford's did not have the Ashford logos on them, and as my wheel is exactly the same except in a blond wood instead of a dark wood, I realized now that I was right about what mine was. I'm going to buy that for a really good price too.

The Babe Production wheel I have is going up for sale though. I am not happy with it. I'm sure for the right person, it would be perfect, but for me, it's not heavy duty enough to do the production work I need it to do. It's perfect for someone who doesn't spin for hours at a time, but for someone who spins an hour or so and then quits until the next day. I sell yarn at the farmers' market so I really want a wheel that will stand up to that and the Babe Production Wheel does not stand up to that kind of stress. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed. I'd heard tons of good things about the Babe wheels, which makes me doubly disappointed...expecially as I figured out the key to get it to drawn on it like I wanted. It took a bit of time to figure out it's tension device, but I did figure it out... So if you're interested in a slightly used Babe Production wheel in black (it was my Xmas present from my husband per my request), it comes with two small bobbins and a large plying bobbin, the orifice hook, and the instruction book. I got it brand new, and will be selling it for a good price. Email me at Spinning_diva@yahoo.com if you're interested. I'll have a pic up here soon. My husband's been using his camera to take pictures as his business, so I haven't been able to do it.

But the deal I got on my first big loom is wonderful and another Ashford wheel is great too. Now I can teach my spinning students on a really spiffy wheel. I'll post pics of othose on Saturday (the looms and the wheel). I can hardly wait to get my hands in the fiber to start weaving. This puts my table loom to shame, but that still has it's uses.

I'm so antsy to get them...but I have to wait until after the farmers' market to get them. Will right more later. I will let you know on Saturday or Sunday how it all goes.

Today, my chicks are now in the outside coop all locked up tight for the night. They were starting to fly out of the boxes we had them in when they were really little, so we put the light outside and made sure they had buffer boards to keep the wind out and we'll put the rest of teh roof on later in the weekend. Nothing but sunshine and 101 degrees on Saturday, so I will not worry about them. They have 10 gallons of water and most of the rest of the veggie starter food for them. Also, when they get a bigger and can get out during the day, we will be putting in about 8 nesting boxes so they can brood or lay eggs to their hearts content without any worries. So at night, they'll be protected from the cats, raccoons, and the fox (or at least my husband believes it was a fox) and during the day they'll eat bugs, grass and stuff. Then we'll have more egg layers. We have one adult from last year and she's been laying 1-2 eggs every other day or so--she's keeping us supplied sort of, but we also supply my In-Laws, so we need a few more than just one chicken.

We haven't sheared my 3 alpacas yet, but that is coming shortly...the week after this. We'll shear, give them their selenium and Vit A&D shots and trim hooves. Then they'll be set for next year. Sheep are already sheared. So, they're all set until September when I shear them for the second time or until spring if it's too cold outside. We'll see what happens.

Spin Mindfully,
Jet