Maiden Voyages

My name is Karen and I'm a fiber addict. You see, there was this trunk show...

And my brand new, just born Pocket Wheel had finally arrived...!!!

Her name is Ginger, Gingie for short. She weighs six pounds. The show side of her wheel is a red wine, copper veneer and her treadles are quilted maple.

Here's Gingie's maiden voyage! She's so petite that, take a closer look at this picture, she fits in the front passenger seat of the car!

Here she is, showing off just outside of our hotel room at Death Valley, CA.

This desolate land was having what is called a "super bloom".

By the time we got home, Gingie and I had spun all four ounces of the tussah silk/superwash merino.

To speed the time it takes and simplify dressing Sophie, here's another first. Do you see the water bottles? They're hanging from a trapeze. Without it, I have to move each of those bottles every time I wind 18 inches (the distance they can rise between floor and breast beam) onto the warp beam. Using this simple tool, two long boards and one pole, extends that distance to as much as six feet!

And I took another step closer to getting to use my new drawloom. I threaded and tied all the strings.

I'm so close to being able to play with my new toy!