Still Casting on.

Yesterday, I was determined to decide on a yarn for Echo Flower.

Instead, I seem to have found a pattern for the Bambu that I'd thought was going to be Echo Flower. Ravelry, that delicious time suck, revealed the Wings of Peace Pattern (for non-Ravelers, look here).  I rather like the way it drapes, and it claims that it can be done with the yardage I have.

I've got two fears.

1) that I'll wind up being myself and changing the last half of it (it gets very simple at the end); and

2) that I'll go insane trying to knit without a chart.

Who knew?  I learned to knit without charts.  I even learned to knit lace without charts.  Then,  I learned how to read charts, and now I can't seem to read a pattern that's written out without going insane!  I'm pretending, for now, that I'm not going to chart this puppy.  I mean, c'mon, it starts with 77 stitches, and gets BIGGER.  We'll see how long that lasts.

Meanwhile, here are more signs that I'm not myself.

Do you see all those markers?  i mean seriously! Who is knitting this thing anyway?

 

Since when do I put markers in every dozen stitches?  Since I keep losing track of how many repeats of the pattern I've done.

But I do think that this pattern agrees with the yarn more than the Echo Flower did.

(sorry it's so pale).

And when fussing about with out a chart drives me to the edge...I've got a new visitor to play with!

Look what came to visit!

My dear friend Mother Chaos has lent me her wheel for a bit.  During my last spinning escape, I found that this one

was fighting me every step of the way.  I tried Whichy's which seemed friendlier.  I pondered whether it would be the better part of valor (or sanity) to sell the old wheel, much as I had loved her, and replace her with a new one that wasn't at odds with me.  And now I get to spend more time with the same type of wheel to see if this is indeed what I want to acquire.

I'm kind of hoping that selling two single treadle wheels will get me enough money to afford one new double treadle wheel.

Though the frugal part of me wonders whether simply getting the double treadle attachment for the old wheel would be enough.  The nervous part wonders if it's more in the mechanism than just the single treadle -- single treadle never used to bother me (Besides... that pretty up there folds up and is portable!!) 

Comments

[janna]

You're channeling me with all those stitch markers -- I love mine!

[Kirsten]

What you wrote echoes my experience with spinning wheels. As a novice spinner I bought a used Ashford Traditional and had it for 10 years, always thinking I was a lousy spinner. I took it along to a spinning friend's house a couple of years ago and she commented that I was really fighting the wheel. That was my "huh" moment, where I sat back and thought about it. I always thought it was me being skill-less, had never tried another wheel. About 2 weeks after that visit I bought the Lendrum double treadle and I have to say it was so very worth it. I hope you find a wheel that suits you, saves your sanity, and that makes spinning fun.