hello, gorgeous

Thanks to the Pocket Linguist's heroic efforts, this little darling was waiting for me when I returned from NEFFA. It's a two-year-old, third-hand Kromski Sonata, bought off Ravelry from a woman in waaay upstate New York. Not pictured: the jumbo flyer, jumbo bobbin, fast flyer, three more regular bobbins, carrying bag (excellent turtle disguise), or the pound and a half of fiber Marjorie sent along with the wheel.

Verdict so far? It's amazing, and I don't regret buying it without having spun on a Sonata before. (I had tried a Minstrel and felt kind of enh about it.) It's comfortably tall so I don't hunch over, but folds up plenty small– the carrying case is needlessly large, I think, but conveniently so if you want to stuff extras in with the wheel. I do need to get some oil for it, as the bobbins got quite noisy and the treadles a bit squeaky after a while.

I spun up a bit of test yarn out of domestic wool roving (chain plying: harder than you think!), then managed ~3 oz Ashland Bay 50/50 merino/silk in Sea Mist (shown) and 4 oz Squoosh 70/30 superwash merino/alpaca in Eire before moving out. Until September, it's back to spindles, knitting needles, basket reed, and my loom... I guess I might be able to keep myself occupied.