My Alfred working on my Traddy

This is my Ashford Traditional, a 1975 model. I picked her up at a second hand store about 8 years ago. just had the wheel spokes tightened by Pinoccio Woodworks here in Sonoma.

We've been having problems with the wheel not rotating smoothly, so we're figuring there is something amiss with the way the crank shaft is bolted to the pitman. I think the bolts holding it on are tightening as it spins. Alfred has the concept down now and is on his way to the hardware store to find options. Problem with the Ashford site is that they don't have specs for this older model that has a different crank shaft than the newer models.

Aren't they both cute! :)

Fini !

I was putting so many projects on needles that I decided I was going to finish a few. The Woodsman's Socks (pattern by EZ Knitting Around) are finished. I even wove in every last little end. This is a four ply so I split the ends and wove them in ever so nicely on the back. You can tell that this wool will full a little and all the ends will stay nicely put. I want to wash and block them just to feel how soft the wool turns when I've done so. We'll see how that goes. :) DH loves them as is.

Quilting Time--Alfred's Quilt

I'm loving my knitting, but it's time to put some quilting time in. This is a quilt that I've been working on for over 2 years. I finally finished the top this Spring and vowed I'd get it onto the longarm for topstitching. I've loaded some pictures of the quilt on the longarm so you can get an idea of what this machine set up is like.

This first picture shows a side view of the quilt on the machine. You can see the backing is red. The white stuff behind the quilt top is the batting, and of course the black & grey design on the top there is the quilt. The pattern is from the book Strips and Strings.

This is a close up of some of the stitch work I'm doing on this particular quilt. I'm using the Circle Lord to get those nice accurate spirals. It works much like a Spirograph (if you remember playing with those as a kid). You plug a stylus that is attached to the machine into a template and it maintains the arches while you move the machine. Great ingenious device.


These spirals are all over the place. There is no pattern involved, I'm just stitching and turning the quilt a few feet and adding another spiral here and there. I love the way it's coming out. I'm using a red thread, which you can't see here. It's really hard to get any relief shots on this dark fabric.

A Bonnie Tam for A Braw Man

Tam Finished













One of my most favorite and simple tam photos from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears.