My head is spinning!

And so are my hands, at least they will be soon. What's that a picture of below you wonder, that big round wooden gadget that looks oh-so-beautiful?

That's my new spinning wheel (nevermind the current owner's garage)! It's an Ashford Traditional, single treadle, single drive. It will be in my possession within ten days; it just needs to get from Portland to Seattle so I likely will be making a trip down to pick it up. With luck on my side it turned up through a friend, and a good deal on a very gently used piece of equipment. Thanks to a sweet mom I've also signed up for a spinning class this month with Weaving Works (one of my favorite Seattle yarn stores) to familiarize myself with how to spin on the wheel. This is a big upgrade from my usual spindle spinning.

Cheers to natural fibers like wool, silk, bamboo, wool, more wool, etc. Now this means I can give my fiber-loving friends handspun yarn. Get excited, because I am!

Lots of things have been happening. My mama came up for the sewing and stitchery expo so I'm sure I will be sewing quilts and coats and other fabric goodies in my near future. I learned too much, and we were lucky to spend time together doing the things we love. My cat is great, my boyfriend is awesome, and oh yeah, I'm not so mad at Pointelle anymore! In fact, she is quite pretty-- just remind me never to knit with grey during a Seattle winter again. This sock is like camouflage against the dark, dreary skies we have.

PS. I'm on my way to Doe Bay resort on Orcas Island this weekend for an informal knitters' retreat so I'm busy preparing gift bags, food menus, and planning the upcoming knitting projects. Somewhere in the glass ball I see a sweater for myself, some baby booties for family/friends that are reproducing, and a pair of finished socks.