Wheels

My Louet Victoria, Chibi, has a slight problem - I was spinning tons of baby alpaca a few weeks ago, and some fiber got stuck in her drive wheel axle. It's too recessed for me to go at by hand, so I need to take her apart and clean it out. Unfortunately, none of the wrenches I have at home seem capable of not stripping her main axle bolt, so I need to go to Home Depot and find a proper metric socket wrench for the job.


I haven't done this, of course, because I'd rather stay home and play with fiber (or go out drinking), so I've just been using Clotho, my Schacht Matchless.


I don't know what the trouble is, but we've been together more than a year and Clotho and I are still not in love with each other yet. Maybe it's that I'm so used to Scotch tension and she's a double-drive (I know I can convert her to Scotch tension - I'm trying to learn to love DD); maybe it's that I've been spoiled by Chibi's sealed bearings and I have to oil Clotho regularly; maybe it's that Clotho has ginormous bobbins and I have to spin forever to fill them (and yet, they're still too small to hold the same amount of plied yarn as singles). I really don't know. But in this time of trial with Chibi being somewhat out of commission, I'm hoping I can establish a better relationship with my Schacht Matchless.


On the upside, I spun up 2 oz. of the CVM/kid mohair Bonnie from frontierfiberfarm sent me, and I'm very happy with the results. I was thinking that the mohair would make this a really good sock blend, but it seems too soft for socks. I'll see how I feel once it's plied - maybe I've been conditioned to think that all sock yarn has to be stiff to be strong.


I've also been kicking around the idea of spinning something specifically for heel/sole/toe reinforcement - a longwool or mohair single in a bright color would make a cute accent and would also mean that I could use some softer fibers, like alpaca or angora, where I wouldn't expect a lot of wear.