More Shawls and A Rakestraw Spinner
I still have shawls on the brain. It's a minor ailment, I know, but I seem to get a fairly healthy bout of it at least once a year. It's when I'm in the greatest danger of casting on projects I will never finish, like my beloved Swallowtail Shawl... *sigh!* But today I want to tempt you with a Little Shawl e-Book only available by purchase online. I got this link from one of my Yahoo Groups and I really want to share with you an enticing collection of 7 Small Shawls to Knit by Designs By Romi.
This eBook only costs $20 for the 7 shawls and it's a subscription (and I don't get anything for promoting it, just so you know). There are 2 already and more coming over the rest of the year. I absolutely love the freshness of her designs! They all call for sock yarn but I'm sure fingering weight would work for most of these too. Since they are all fairly small they're not so intimidating for us not-usually-shawl-knitters and for the old pro's, they can all be expanded by adding more pattern repeats. How sweet it that? Ravelry users can find her there but for us non-Ravelers the link will take you to her own website.
A while back Doris, a long-time blog friend was complaining about her recently purchased Rakestraw Spinner, which awakened my insatiable curiosity for spinning oddities. Yes, it was inevitable, someone on one of my Yahoo Groups had one for sale and I bought it for about half of retail. It's gorgeous wood - Maple and Rosewood. If you're as curious as I was, here's a video tutorial from the Down In The Country website that makes them. I will say right up front that I'm not in any danger of replacing my wheel with it! LOL!! But as a sweet collector piece I will be keeping this baby!
It is in moments like this that I realize how much I allow others to influence me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, when the outcome is a new book or spinning gadget. I think it's one of the reasons I blog - to extend a bit of "good" influence myself. I mean, what's better than sharing with your friends and making new ones in the process? I have found that most spinners and knitters are very generous by nature and willing to share their experiences for the betterment of the craft and just being helpful in general. For all the nasty things the internet is used for, it's kinda' nice to be counted on the side of those who try to use it for a better purpose! Cheers all!
It is in moments like this that I realize how much I allow others to influence me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, when the outcome is a new book or spinning gadget. I think it's one of the reasons I blog - to extend a bit of "good" influence myself. I mean, what's better than sharing with your friends and making new ones in the process? I have found that most spinners and knitters are very generous by nature and willing to share their experiences for the betterment of the craft and just being helpful in general. For all the nasty things the internet is used for, it's kinda' nice to be counted on the side of those who try to use it for a better purpose! Cheers all!
Posted by Gloria Patre at 7/21/2010 5:32 PM 
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: 7 Small Shawls Designs by Romi rakestraw spinner
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: 7 Small Shawls Designs by Romi rakestraw spinner
LOL, you probably got the one I sent back. My issue with the spinner was the amount of arm work involved in using it vs. a drop spindle. I have muscle/ligament problems and this was more work than a drop for me. They tout it as good for fibromyalsia and I hope they dropped that from their ad. It is not.
I also went whole hog and got the Andean plyer at the same time. I had manufacturing issues with that. I got a more expensive walnut wood and the piece was not finished properly on the side the drill came out from. Marginally sanded, you could see a divit where a piece of the wood had splintered off. For that price, I expected better workmanship. I liked the idea of the Andean plyer, because doing that manually, no matter how loose you think you are doing it, you end up squishing you hand and I can't do that. He was a bit put out that I questioned his workmanship, but it was what it was. I get a lot of spindles and wooden spinning equipment over the internet and this was not a keeper. That's why going to the festivals is so much better because you can see and feel, test out before you plunk down your bucks.
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I so totally hear you about the quality issue on the sight-unseen purchasesI And BTW - I know I didn't get yours because I actually bought mine from a gal on one of my Yahoo Groups so I knew it was in nice condition because I asked (see what I learned from your experience??) LOL!! I can't see myself doing any serious spinning with it because I really dislike how you unwind the singles - looks like a recipe for disaster, if you don't buy their companion gadget. Oh well - it's not an expensive toy and I think it will be fun to play around with a bit... Thanks for the inspiration!
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