Monday, August 20, 2007

in the midst of chaos, there is still knitting


Hedera
Originally uploaded by jacquichris
here it is, my second week as Service Chief and my third week on clinics. can i just say how tired i am? last week we had two 10 hour days, two 12s and one ghastly 14 hour slog of a day. happily, our inpatients were fairly stable so weekend rounds/care took just an hour a day. what else? oh yeah, Friday i got bit through the nail by a wicked little dog. happily, it doesn't appear to be abscessing (so i think i will keep the nail) and it isn't impeding my knitting or spinning.


Birttania
Originally uploaded by jacquichris
this weekend had many pluses. i went back to the gym both Saturday and Sunday, my first visits since well before the move. i am sore sore sore, but it is a great feeling. i also had a massage Saturday which helped with the stress in general and my head in particular.

with such a long week, i hadn't any much time for crafting but i was able to squeeze some in this weekend. i blocked the Brittania and am very happy with the final result. (the photo is pre-block, just to give a feel for it all.) the Hedera socks should be finished soon though my sock pace has slowed now that i confine work on them to meetings. MS3 Swan Lake is complete (but unblocked). i don't know whether i like the combined construction but find the wing just darling. i may make a two-winged version with more beads. finally, i filled most of a second bobbin of fine merino in a colorway called Moody Blues (photo to follow) and am almost ready to attempt plying it. i am almost ready to take the plunge and purchase my own wheel. i am leaning towards the Lendrum Double Treadle. input welcome...

well, i am going to be late if i don't sign off now. i leave you with a photo of my one-winged dove:

MS3 complete but unblocked
Originally uploaded by jacquichris

2 comments:

Spinny Bunt said...

Okay. I mildly hate you for having MS3 done. ; P
I think the Lendrum is a good intro wheel, but you may move past it. I did. Some people love it and keep it always. I have a Suzy, and I love it. It does anything I want and doesn't put undo stress on my knees. The Rose is even better.
I like the Brittannia! Looks very nice.
Damn. I need to start producing again. Feh

Denise said...

The Brittannia fits great and looks wonderful on you!

Nice work on the 'one-winged' dove too.

I've never used a Lendrum before so I can't comment on them. It's hard to recommend a wheel for others since it's a personal experience sort of thing.

My first wheel was an Ashford and I loved it at the time. It allowed me to start spinning at a time when I definitely could not afford a more expensive wheel. I didn't do extensive research - it was the wheel my teacher had and it worked for me.

After I got my Jensen Tina II though I found I never touched my Ashford again. It just felt too clunky after using the Tina.

It's nice if you can try a few different wheels before you buy if possible to see if there's one that stands out for you. Or just buy what works for now and know that you might wind up moving on to something else later. You can usually sell a wheel for what you paid for it(or more).