Lincoln’s Mom’s Spinning Wheel

This is interesting…

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Well, it’s not neccessarily the wheel she used, but one like it. This was from the Summer of ’2003, when “Debbie”:http://sternski.com/debbie and the kids came out for a visit. After about killing our kids out in the mid-summer sun and humidity of the midwest, we took this PacNorWesters to the Lincoln Boyhood Park for a cooler visit. Right near where their home was, they had built up a house and farm that would’ve been just like the one where Lincoln spent his boyhood years. A sidebar of history, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, spent most of his boyhood in Indiana, and then became successful in Illinois, as an adult. So all 3 of the states claim him.

We really need to go back and visit the park again. The park rangers dress in period clothes (as you can see the headless woman in the brown in the photo) and perform the normal days activities that the Lincoln family would have done. They have a few animals (minus the 99 pigs the Lincoln’s were said to have owned) – a couple sheep, a horse or two, etc. The male ranger tends to the animals and does some wood carving in the workshop, and the femail ranger cooks in the fireplace, cleans up around the house, and spins on the spinning wheel! I would be much more interested going back now. In the various other photos you can see niddy noddy’s hanging on the wall with yarn on them, extra bobbins, a hank of yarn hanging and a smaller spinning wheel down on the floor there.

But this wheel she demonstrates on? WOW! It is HUGE! As you can see it is almost as tall as the lady ranger. Of course, back then it didn’t have a treadle, so she had the kids spinning the wheel for her while she drafted. She also let the kids do some carding for her, they thought that was pretty cool. I’m really more impressed now than I was then. I wonder why?!?! Okay, enough of the sarcasm.

And now for a complete, FO, not a half-baked FO – may I present Miss Em’s JellyBean socks:

Pattern: a bit of this, a bit of that. I did them in the magic loop method – one at a time, in order to better be able to match the stripes – I used the aloha cast-on, and did the Toes sort of like the ones that the “toe-up sock goddess”:http://needlefingers.blog-city.com/ taught me but yet different. The heel was done in short rows (one sock heel done in yarn over short rows, the other sock heel done in wrapped short rows) and then just some 2×2 ribbing for the ankle, since she decided she wanted short socks for summer.
Needles: size 0 Addi Turbos – 47 inch
Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes in the Jelly Bean colorway
Details: I started with 10 sts on each of the 2 needle ends at the toe, increased up to 24 sts on each of the 2 needle ends, and decreased the 24 on the heel flap down to 10 sts via short rows and back up to 24sts.

She loves them! I am so glad. Now all of my girls have handmade-by-mom socks. I have asked the boy several times if he’d like a pair of hand knit socks and he doesn’t seem too interested. I find it really hard to put the time and energy into hand knitting a pair of socks for someone who is not interested. But then on the other hand, he may change his mind if I made him a pair – he might then, get to really see the benefit of them. Well, sorry, but for now I have too many sock yarns and patterns calling out to me for people who really want them (like me). So, maybe later I’ll try a pair for him. Then, if he doesn’t appreciate them, _WOOSH,_ I’ll hand them to _the man_ – he LOVES the socks I made for him and even tried to claim the red koigu socks that were too loose on me, that ended up going to Jasmine.

So, now I just have to narrow down which yarn and which pattern to cast on socks for now – this could be tough:

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Do I hear that Lorna’s Laces from “my SP5″:http://2monkeys.blogspot.com/ calling out to me?
Is it saying that it wants to become “Yukon Leaves?”:http://www.woolandwood.freewebspace.com/yukonleaves.htm
I have to listen to my fiber, right?

And speaking of fiber, due to technical difficulties, and work/school/life, spinning has not been happening as much as I would like, but I do have almost 2 equal bobbins of this Romney in 2 colors (brown/white) swirled together that is spinning up very cool. And one of the most amazing things? Some of this has been spun on the wheel, and some has been spun on the drop spindle, but no one can tell the difference!

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And one last note, my daughter has convinced me to pick up an old UFO. Anyone remember this?

p=. !http://static.flickr.com/14/16323280_85801cf73d_m.jpg(summer sweater for angel)!:http://static.flickr.com/14/16323280_85801cf73d.jpg?v=0

It’s the summer sweater I started almost a YEAR ago! It ended up being Angel’s size (it was my first attempt at a sweater, okay?) and she loves the emerald green color, so it became hers. Or it will when it’s finished, anyhow. I’ve made several inches up on the front, the photo is of the back.