Rocky Needs a Wheel

Yes, indeed, I tucked that wheel under my arm, walked the ten blocks across town to my little house, and gave my little wheel a home.
Dexter, not to be outdone by the Bach beagles, had to check out his new roommate:
















Dex is a little skeptical, but he seems to be giving Wheel a chance. For whatever reason, he has accepted Wheel without a bark (he's a little yappy dog, he tends to bark - at EVERYTHING) or a little whiz on the treadle (he's 14, he's been known to have, shall we say, a little accident). And, he hasn't tried to devour the yarn (he's really not a chewer, shoes and other paraphernalia are safe in my house, however, the mail that comes through the slot at the bottom of my door is another story. Dex tends to stick his snarling snout through the slot in an effort to annihilate the mailman. So, my mail always comes with little teeth marks, and that's why I have my New Yorker delivered to the office).

Wheel, as I mentioned before, came in one piece, so I did not have to assemble it. But, when I checked out all of the parts after my trek through the city, I realized that the threading hook had fallen off. I didn't know if it was during the walk, or when we took it out of the box, so I ran back to the office hoping to get to the box before the cleaning crew. I arrived seconds before the box was going to be crushed. I told the maintenance guy what I was looking for - umm, it's about the size of a paper clip. He looked at all of the peanuts in the box, scratched his head, and then, literally, dove head first into the box. It seemed like hours before he emerged, sans hook. Oh well, there's always a teeney crochet hook. He was like, whatever, crazy girl, can I throw the box out?

So, I went home, and tried to get the wheel to spin, along with the flyer/bobbin. The flyer/bobbin, however, was not budging. I spent about an hour fiddling with the tension before I realized that the bolts on the motherboard had to be tightened. So, being the very prepared homeowner that I am, I could not find a screwdriver, and had to settle for a dime. The dime did the trick, and we had spin! I attempted to thread the thing with the crochet hook, and take off spinning, but that was an unmitigated disaster - let's just say the fur was flying, and I have tufts of wool all over my living room to prove it. So, I spent about an hour just practicing treadling. I think I've got it. By the way, does this count like a Stairmaster? Do you think I'm burning any calories, and I can therefore forgive myself for the oh so good slice of Joe's Pizza I had for lunch, and the Korean Barbecue I had for dinner (yes, that's where I was when I was missing knitting circle; a public defender can NEVER turn down a free meal).

And, so I have a whole box of wool to spin (at least a 1000 calories worth, don't ya think?): and, when spun up, it looks like this:













The bobbin is nearly full, so I decided to give it a rest for the night. Along with the wheel, I also got a set of carders, a lazy Kate with three bobbins, and another drop spindle - don't think I'll be using that any time soon -- it's like Rocky II grabbing the chicken - speed! we've got speed! (by the way, Rocky 6, or Rocky Balboa sounds like a REALLY BAD IDEA - he won't be hitting a side of beef, he'll be lucky to get a poke in at the Michelin man, he won't be running up the Art Museum stairs, he'll be shlepping down Broad Street with a walker. As Mickey once predicted, "you're going to eat lightening and crap thunder" - well, only with Maalox for this ol' head. And, when asked why he fights, Rocky replied, "Because I can't sing or dance." Yes, we know Sly can't sing or dance (remember that movie with Dolly where he just stares at her boobs over his geetar the whole poignant film), but it doesn't mean he's gotta get back in that bigscreen ring. And, if you must must must, why oh why kill Adrian - I'm sure Talia Shire could use the work. Yo Rocky - get a wheel!).

We've got speed (although, I hope I don't crap thunder), we've got yarn, we are so on are way! All Dex needs now is a niddy noddy to cuddle up to, and our happy home will be complete!