It All Makes Sense Now

Luckily for Bob, I would have never expected it so it meant nothing at the time. What am I talking about you ask? When I and two friends were in Boulder last weekend I walked up on one of them in deep discussion with a yarn shop employee regarding a Schacht Sidekick spinning wheel. I got a kind of strange look and there was a delay in the conversation before a comment was made that "My sister" has been looking into these. I don't recall what I said but I continued on into the loom area and forgot all about it. Until Thursday night that is when I opened an early birthday gift that I assumed was a big box of fiber from Bountiful.

Now let me just say, I would have been so happy with a big ol'box stuffed full of fiber. So I was ecstatic to find this instead.

That's right, I am the proud new owner (and as you can see I've already made excuses to use it even before making time to share the news) of a Schacht Sidekick. A completely unsuspecting and surprised owner mind you.

And on that note, once again thank you Bob. I appreciate it more than you know, and more to the point, appreciate that you can see I enjoy spinning/knitting/playing with wool in general to spend the money on such a gift for me. And also a thank you to the two friends who were assigned to find out what exactly it was that I was coveting. I'll even let you play with my toys.

I know, you're thinking, he has two spinning wheels now? What the hell do you do with two wheels? Well, only the non-spinners think such thoughts as that last one. But my plan is now to convert one over to making bulkier yarns. Which I'll look into doing with the Kiwi since it's less portable a the Sidekick and I think if I'm going to play with bulkier yarn construction I will probably be doing that at home, but we shall see.

"Portable?" I hear you scoff. Well, let me show you one of the wonders of the Sidekick.

Image from schactspindle.com

That's right. Those Schacht designers are ingenious, and since I've met several people from there, I can tell you they are very nice to boot. I suggest to anyone in Boulder to give them a ring and see if they can come in and see their operation. But back on track, the sidekick folds up for easy transport.

I know, you doubt these words. I can attest to yesterdays virgin spin in our new local yarn shop Blooming Needle with an experienced tutor, that she does indeed travel easily. I just folded her up, buckled her into the front seat and went on my way. The included shoulder strap allowed for easy transport in and out of the shop and house.

Image from knittyblog.com

I plan on purchasing a case for the Sidekick to keep her a little more protected in transit. Hopefully it fits a bit better than the pictured suitcase, but hey, I may have the need to check my Sidekick for flight someday.

Once again, thank you guys. I appreciate it.  So far she's been wonderful to spin on. Very quite and a smooth treadle, and the new stool I bought while in Denver works great since I need to be a bit higher treading the sidekick than I did the Kiwi. The footstool just wouldn't have cut it.

Also, a thanks to yesterdays spinning tutor. I appreciate your help immensely. This morning as I finished up that batch of roving I was working on yesterday I was amazed by how much smoother than one little tip of making my left hand sit still made my yarn. That probably would have taken me six more months to discover on my own. And it was just darn enjoyable to sit with another spinner for a couple three hours and chat and spin.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and an enjoyable St Patty's. Drink a beer for me and For Patty's sake don't ruin it with green dye. Of course, a good dark beer is darn hard to make appear green. I better get to making the nights feast and clean some house. Most importantly, that aquarium is looking awful sad. Poor abused and neglected fish.