Yarn and stuff

After an exhausting but exhilarating week of Easter music, things are back to the norm - teaching, making reeds, practicing and knitting. I ordered one of the sock yarn samplers from KnitPicks (hah - like any of us really need more sock yarn!!!) and it arrived last week. The color palette is beach.

I like most of it... not a big fan of the green in the back but some sock recipient will be :)

I also stained the spinning stool my DH gave me for Xmas thinking if I get it finished I may actually use it.

Then I emailed Leef to see if she could help me get the missing rods for the lazy kate on my refurbished Scholar.

She has them at the farm now so I hope to take a ride up and get them this week. We (and Ashford) think they are the same ones that are on the current models of the Traveler and Joy. Cross your fingers that they will fit, please.

Someone had a Scholar for sale on Ravelry; she was asking $300 for it. Obviously she did not do her research because you can find them for around $150. No wonder there was no response.

There was some knitting on the Dragonflies this week :

I love it after the heel is turned and the gusset is decreased because we are in the home stretch now :-)

Enjoy your week my friends~

2 FOs

Here is EZ Baby Surprise Jacket before seaming:

And here it is all seamed up:

The yarn is Red Heart Luster Sheen, the color is Baby Combo. I used #4 options. I think this is a good newborn size - at least I hope so. Annie's baby is due in a few weeks :-)

And the next FO is my Scholar:

You can see the damage



And here is my repair

And she spins!!!

I washed all the wood, gave it 2 coats of stain and one coat of wipe on Poly. Deciding I didn't like the look of the poly, I went over her with steel wool and rubbed in a few coats of Watco Wax Finish. I am much happier with the look.

Phase 2

My little Scholar arrived safely on Wednesday. She is actually in great shape with only one large chip (now repaired) and the wood in need of moisture. I took her apart, wiped down all the wood and let it dry overnight. This morning she got a light sanding and the first coat of stain. I am using a mahogany color gel and will most probably apply another coat tomorrow. After the color is satisfactory, I plan to use a wipe on Poly in a low gloss so she will be sealed and ready for traveling. I know the purists think it should be hand rubbed oil, waxed, etc. ~ which is how I finished my Traveler ~ and the other camp is into painting and decorating but I want a nice deep color wood finish that is very durable and low maintanance. Do we hear Minwax Gel Stain and Wipe On Poly? Easy to apply and will be done by Sunday. Yeah, baby!

Have a great knitty weekend!

A little further along

EZs Baby Surprise Jacket is moving along:

I am about halfway at this point. The Sirdar is also moving along, but taking a picture of the black yarn doesn't come out so well.

I was surfing Ebay last night and found an old Ashford Scholar in need of some TLC and a new home. I have been thinking about wanting a little portable wheel thinking it will encourage me to get back into spinning and get going to the local spin-ins. So I set up ESnipe to bid for me and won her! She (for some reason I have applied gender it although that is not my norm) came in at nice a low price and in need of cleaning. I hope to have it by the end of the week and will know if this was a good thing or not.

You see how neglected she is? I hope to easily disassemble her and refurbish her to get that finish or a new one, looking fabulous. I love working with wood and finishes - so this will be a fun project. Cross your fingers on this one :-} that she will spin well!