breispace

I just found this great initiative through a blog on softies (i.e. handmade soft toys) I follow; check out the Toy Society! I’m going to release Sheldon somewhere, and hope he finds a good and worthy home.

I had had my eye on this one for a while, especially since buying that scrumptious BFL roving at the craft fair last month (see previous post). My old wheel was getting further beyond repair with every spinning session, and the time had come when “learning the craft on an old bike” had to be replaced by “time to get some decent tools”. A hefty tax assessment prevented me from indulging however, until Saint Nick came through in the shape of my dad.

With  what was left after paying the Nation burning a hole in my bank account, I set off for Den Haag to see a man woman about a horse foldable spinning wheel. Space being at a premium at my house, this seemed the ideal wheel for me. So I tried and tested, and here she is:

The pedals can be folded up, and the whole thing carried in a big shoulder bag. It weighs about six kilos, but it felt like ten when I carried it home on my Buzbike. It came with 100 complementary grams of purple merino & silk blend roving which, after some practice with a bit of old, mothy brown fleece, I  spun into two bobbins of this:

I then plied these into a skein of “art yarn”, which is now begging me to be knitted into a nice little neckwarmer. It’s still a bit bumpy in some places and overspun in others, but I’m starting to get the hang of tweaking this wheel to suit my limited spinning skills.

The Joy spins like a dream. No creaking, no wobbly bits, smooth action, lovely. Another serious competitor for the rare luxury that is my spare time. Excellent. And with a couple of lessons I’m sure I’ll get the bumps out of my yarn too. Next target: homespun pullover (after I finish my eight current UFOs).

I am fairly up to scratch with my studies, and so the main part of this autumn half-term was spent on leisure and other forms of my own personal  benefit.

To begin with, I had ordered three Lundia bookcases to hide some of the chaos that is my study-cum-living room. I wanted to bring some order to my favourite sixteen square metres, and I wanted the possibility to continue the same look on the other side of the room in the future. I had ordered the planks, panels and worktops mid-August, and October 14th was the first possible delivery date. I had it moved to this week because it’s my Autumn half-term holiday. Good things come to those who pay through the nose wait, I suppose.

The before situation can be seen on Kees’ blog, and below is what I apparently looked like after Kees, Nantko and I had moved it all and I got supper on the way. Notice the emptiness behind me…

This is what things looked like a few days later, with the Billy and my comics collection moved to the left and after I had assembled everything and put most of my stuff back in. All the top shelves will be behind mauve-pinkish doors once the hinges get stolen from Ikea come in the post.

  

After two days  of marking tests and writing planning schemes for work I decided it was time to get some R&R before all school breaks loose again. Therefore this morning Marion and I took off to the textile craft fair in Rotterdam. It was held in a beautiful architectural landmark, the former Van Nelle factory.

I had just finished this cute amigurumi penguin the night before, and he seemed to enjoy his first view of the outside world while Marion and I KIPped on the train. He had made himself quite comfortable on my -also recently finished-  purple beanie with pink skulls. I decided to call him Pengurumi until his next owner decides on another name.

Saint Salarius had just visited me the night before, and after paying next month’s rent and various other bills it was now time to blow the rest on yarnabilia. I bought 9 skeins  pure brick-red silk tweed yarn (on sale) for a sweater to be knit next spring, various bits and bobs for making more amigurumi, a book on modular knitting and 700 grams of gorgeously soft BiFL roving (to be spun this winter and knit into yet another sweater next autumn).

Pengurumi was quite exhausted by now, and had a little rest in the Ravelry / Dutch knitters‘ corner.

Marion had managed to restrict herself to only one hank of hand-dyed sock yarn, although that wasn’t her only purchase; perhaps she’ll own up to blog about that herself. Or perhaps not.

One more day before school, and the end of daylight savings’ time tonight. Take a deep breath..

• On the bike to the station: cigarette smoke at fifty paces behind an electric wheelchair.
• On the platform: a buxom woman in her twenties who’s forgotten her deodorant this morning. I’m sure she’s a turn-on to someone, somewhere.
• On the train: a woman smelling of candy, chewing with her mouth open whilst talking loudly to her mobile phone. A young man in KLM ground crew uniform about to start his shift, wearing plenty of fresh aftershave. Not a window in sight.
• Getting in at Schiphol: a family combo. Mother wears patchouli, daughter chews a banana. Like being slowly clubbed to death by hippies.
• On the ferry: brackish water, more cigarettes. Inside, the air is stale but smoke-free.
• On the bike in Noord: the smell of the stable.