So a deadline I've had noted in my calendar for months was either incorrect, or it had changed and I just found out I have 2 weeks less than I thought. Oops! So still no new knitting to blog. I have however, really been trying to spin at least a few minutes each day.
And what better incentive than a fabulous new spindle.

I looove it! Now I understand what people mean when the say "spins beautifully". It's a Viking Santa spindle who sells on eBay. I don't think he has any up currently, but they go up at pretty regular intervals. I deeply coveted one of the inlaid bead versions, but they went for a little more. It's hard to tell from this photo angle, but the hook has a little counter-weight bend to the top. It has so much forward momentum when I carefully placed it down to photograph it spins back and forth on the table for nearly a minute or two.

My first plied yarn! I think it looks more like rope, but you know.

Posted by Jen at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Now that I've assembled my parts for building a charkha I've started assessing everything. I decided to start with determining what drive ratios I want to create, as this will dictate the main components. Drive ratios on traditional spinning wheels are pretty straight forward. For each complete turn of the drive wheel, how many times it turns the driven object (such as bobbin or flyer) is the drive ratio. This is determined by dividing the diameter or circumference of the drive wheel by the diameter or circumference of the driven object. Abby's Yarns has a good in depth post of basic drive ratios that goes into that further. For a charkha, or 'accelerated' wheel, there are two drive wheels, and the ratio of each is multiplied together to determine the final spinning ratio.

So using my set up as an example (I've used metric here because hey- it's easier math) the formula is:
A1 / A2 = C
B1 / B2 = D
C * D = Drive Ratio
So we get, 108 / 22 = 4.9 and 50 / 12 = 4.2 which gives us 4.9 * 4.1 and a ratio of 20:1

Here you can see my actual pieces that will give this ratio. Basically, the greater difference in size between wheels of one drive band, the higher the ratio. I've found a variety of those little wooden spools work great, already predrilled to the desired size and interchangeable. I also have a 1/2" or 12mm spool I can use for A2 that I've calculated will give me an even higher ratio of 37:1. If I want to push that even higher, I'm looking for a smaller spindle pulley (around 1/4") that would allow me to interchange spindles to change ratios- up to 75:1. This would be closer to the true Indian charkhas that typically have ratios around 80:1 - 125:1, great for cotton.

In the other direction, I've calculated a simple flip of B1 and A2 from the above illustration would produce a 4:1 ratio with spindle 1 or an 8:1 with spindle 2. Thus lowering it enough to be suitable for longer staple fibers such as wool.

Can you tell I've had fun playing with numbers? Here are a few other notes on the wheels that I've learned. At one point I had thought about having the second drive band simply connect to the spindle/knitting needle rod directly, with washers on each side to hold it in place. This would obviously push the ratio way up, but I have since realized with such little surface area for the drive band to grab onto, traction, and therefore slippage, becomes an issue. Additionally, the farther apart the wheels are placed helps create more surface area contact between band and wheel and again, improves traction.

Posted by Jen at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ok, I know you're all probably tired of hearing about it, but I finally got some photos of the new craft room. My lack of photographic skill is rather obvious with these, I need more practice with lighting, but anyway- onto the pics!

Walking into the room shot. Now the walls came out more blue than they truly are, it's more a greenish-blue. This is the actual color.

The armoire with the table fully extended. You can also fold it out just half way, it's pretty cool. There's even a built in electrical plug for the sewing machine. (Thanks Mr. Pieknits!)

With everything all organized now it looks like I don't have that much, ha! I've seen some awesome craft rooms; mine looks so bare in comparison. Lots of space to grow though is what I figure. I also have lots more decorating ideas and things to go up on the walls.

Tiki glass o' pens

I <3 my vintage VW van.

My own little "window box" I created for the room. It came out just like I was hoping! I was originally planning on making a real planter box with some wheatgrass but then found these non-expiring plastic types, much more manageable. I have a bit of a black thumb with house plants.

The built in shelves in the closet now houses my yarn stash. The plastic bin on the bottom holds the overflow. Again, not nearly as impressive as some others, but I try to only have yarn that I have specific projects for.

And can't forget Aejaz, he likes the room too - a little too much while we were painting. I was sure we were going to have a half blue dog as he kept trying to lean against the walls. He's posed here in front of the new drawing table/ ball winding station. I plan to put up an inspiration board here too.

And if you're not completly sick of photos yet, there's a few more on my flickr set.

Posted by Jen at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)

Well I had to break in the new room.

$0.30 thrift tie + $0.20 felt = Cheap crafty accessory - my favorite!

I did a wee bit of backstitching embroidery detail. I wanted to add some green swirly thingies around it too but need to find a bright enough colored thread to stand out against the busy background. So I may still add to it. This is so quick I've already picked up a second tie to do as well.

Posted by Jen at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

So what's all this crap? Well I'm hoping to turn it into my very own Charkha spinning wheel based on these instructions. In fact, I've been rather obsessed with it since the idea rooted itself in my head. I'm modifying several of the components from the article however. Some things are stuff I've come up with and others are from tips I got off the Charkha yahoo group list. It's been a good practice in overcoming functional fixedness for sure. I think half the fun has been strolling through craft/fabric/home improvement stores looking at everything as possible pieces.

The new craft room's paint is dry and furniture put in place, now I just need to organize everything. I hope to have some photos soon along with some, you know, actual blogworthy knitting.

Posted by Jen at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Yep, it's quite a mouthful. Heh, mouthful... get it? Ok, so I'm 12.



Totally ganked from bakingsheet.blogspot.com
The aforementioned food blog is on of my baking favorites. Recently she's had some interesting posts on using nut butters to add extra chewieness (a word?) to cookies and brownies and I had to try this one. Chocolate and peanut butter, I mean you can't go wrong. Except once I started mixing these up I noticed I was a little short on chocolate chips and peanut butter. Then I thought of the ever popular Nutella and realized- Hey, that's a nut butter (hazelnut) and it adds more chocolate content. Perfect! So I just filled the 1/2 cup measuring cup with what PB I had left then topped it off with Nutella. I'd say the result was successful. (As in I'm trying to convince myself to take the rest to work so I don't eat the entire pan myself.)

PB & Chocolate Brownies

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or part Nutella too if you like)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate although semi-sweet would work too)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9" square pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter (and Nutella if using) until smooth, then beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, then the vanilla mixing until well combined.
In a small bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in to peanut butter mixture, stopping when just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and scrape batter into pan, spreading into an even layer.
Bake for 26-29 minutes, until set. Edges should feel slightly firm and the center should not look wet or jiggly.
Cool on a wire rack and lift brownies out with the foil when ready to slice.
Makes 16 brownies.

Posted by Jen at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)