Sample Knitting

So here's a sample of knitting from my little center pull muffin :P.



  


Believe it or not, I've barely made a dent in the ball of yarn. Nevertheless I want length more than width, so when I finish this, if it's not long enough to wrap round my neck, I'll just have to frog it and start over with fewer repeats. No prob :D.

New Yarn!

Yep-yep, I made yarn:D. This time on the wheel. This is the first experimental bit of silk. I've saved about 3/4 - 2/3 of the coccoons/mawatas. But this is the resulting yarn :). I think I can get a thin decorative scarf out of it. Nothing functional nor impressive, but still, pretty :) Yep-yep. Seafoam stitch I reckon.

From this

  
to this

  
to this

  

  

  
in about a week :)

Well the Crank Works

It works. For now. Without the footman or treadle. Gonna put those on in a minute. So yeah, about $10 total not counting glue. Not too shabby.

Crank was a bust yet again. New plan, to screw the crank into the hub to create a kind of cross-bracing connection to the wheel.

Google keeps burying this poor blog. :(( It's not fair. There's a zillion blogs mentioning spinning on a dime in passing, or just featuring the lyrics to a Belly song which contain the words spinning on a dime. Sorry, but how many blogs have to point out those lyrics? Yeah, I'm ranting, cause it's annoying. This blog's 100% about spinning on a budget, so spinning on a dime sums it up, but do the powers that be at google search give a crap? No!

So between crank not working quite right, and google burrying the blog god knows how many pages down, well, criminy, I'm in a very not-yay mood.

OMG crank feels tight :) Secure even. So I gave it a test spin, and spun an entire mawata with ease. So now to put on the footman and attatch it to the treadle and crank. Fingers crossed, wish me luck :).

Flyer in Action

Here's a bit of video showing the flyer in action. Pauses are where I had to work the silk a bit, from bits of cradle that didn't stretch as much as I'd have liked, and the occasional bug bit that wormed it's way into the fiber. The clickity-clacking is from the bobbin whorl being taped on + the drive belt having 2 knots(still trying to get the size just right).


After reviewing the video, I've decided it's from the flyer not being permanently glued in place firmly. It's okay, will be just fine when perfectly complete, but it's completed to working/prototype, and that's groovy with me :).

Silk Yarn & Wheel Pics!

Trying to get crank to sit stable and secure in the hub. Don't think that's gonna stop me from making yarn!

Check these out :D

Click to see full size versions :D.



  

  

  

  




  


Did u see that? Not spinning on a dime, but rather, a dime on spinning! LOL I only just caught that!

Well it Worked

Criminy, I tried to solder the new crank(this time from a bent dp, which was already bent, thus useless, or so I thought). Solid aluminum, doesn't bend easily, so I figured would make a much better crank than the tube that broke.

Well, solder isn't very strong. Tried to avoid glue. But should be gr8 by tomorrow. Since I had to drill out the glue b4 when the 1st crank broke. So hopefully will work the same this time :), but without the breaking :).

So very close. But the wheels work, and I redid the flyer. It winds like a dream. 2 hooks which are actually wound up copper wire. When I snap some pics you'll see how totally adorable they are(considering). They're also very adjustable(they slide), plus I added 1 hook to the very end of the flyer, it keeps the yarn from tangling round the bobbin :D.

Whee!

Wheel definitely works, mechanically, just need to get the crank secure(the new crank), and then it's footman time :D.

It Works!

Holy Crap! This thing actually works! Mechanically it's sound. Of course I fully expect to have to tweak it for whorl size, but after using a bit of wire to make a nice sliding hook for the flyer, and another bit of wire(it's copper) to make an orifice hook. I totally managed to thread a "leader"(actually it's some string but don't burst my bubble), and it winds onto the bobbin :).

Yippee!