I thought for sure I'd already written this post but all I can find are the photos and not any posts so I'm posting again. I made this cover with a bit of pink wool yarn that I had left over from another project. I just knitted a largish rectangle and then felted it with my laundry, stretched it a bit and then cut out the center as the edges had gotten a bit thick where the knitted fabric curled over. I also attached some elastic to keep it closed. It's a bit thick for keeping in my pocket but it works out quite well in my bag where my phone can use a bit of extra protection from keys and pens and who knows what else is in there

Time for some more random photos. First, here is a photo of some gummy eggs that I got from work. They are currently my favorite (don't worry, like most gummy objects their shape is unrelated to their taste).

Next, here is my anniversary present from Kim, a bottle of real perfume from Penhaligons, a real perfumery.

Actually I forgot what the third photo was going to be so here is one of Kim looking a bit surprised at a wedding we went to last weekend.

I still don't have any great photos of this sweater yet but here are two. The first gives a better idea of the actual color and the second one shows the sweater a bit better. I'm really happy with how it came out, it's thinner than the other sweaters I have knit and it fits quite well. I've been meaning to sew the tiny holes under the arms closed but I keep forgetting. Its one of the problems with knitting a seamless sweater I guess.

I started off these socks with a fancy lace pattern but I realized that I was making the same mistake that I did the last time with a colorful yarn and a busy pattern so I started over with a simpler ribbed pattern and I'm much happier - also it's going much quicker :). This first photo shows the color better but in the second one I've made more progress and the cable shows better

Here is the scarf I made from the first batch of yarn I spun. I probably could have used bigger needles but it is going to be really warm and cozy when winter comes

Kim's sister asked for a watch for her birthday that was analog, smallish and smooth (in case she hit her new baby with it accidentally) so we picked out this woman's watch on amazon thinking that it seemed to fit the general criteria.

However we failed to read the small print to discover that it is rather larger than we were expecting.

A watch this large really should have some special features like a built in milk frother or a homing beacon. It is quite comfortable though and in a pinch I could probably pop out the glass and use it to start a fire. Or something

Ok here's the basic idea: in order to turn the raw material into yarn the wheel needs to perform two functions: twist the yarn and wind it onto the bobbin. We want to take a bunch of hairs and make them stick together in a long string and we do this by twisting them together so that it is difficult for them to slide apart. We also want to wind the yarn onto the bobbin as we twist it so that we can produce lots of it.

My wheel is called a double drive wheel which means that the drive band goes around the whorl and then pulley on the end of the bobbin. See the photo below.

I pump the footman which turns the big wheel which makes the drive band go around. The drive band turns the pulley on the outside (called the whorl) which turns the axle which is connected to the flyer. The drive band also turns the pulley on the inside which is attached to the bobbin which spins on the axle (which is being turned by the whorl). The yarn is tied to the bobbin which means that as the bobbin turns the yarn is twisted. The flyer is also turning around the bobbin which winds the yarn onto the bobbin as it is being twisted. Note the difference in the sizes of the two pulleys - the larger one (the whorl) makes the flyer spin slower so that there is time for the yarn to be twisted before it is wound onto the spool.

I'm still working out how to get some action shots but hopefully this gives you a basic idea. I forgot to mention that there is a hole in the end of the axle called the orifice. The yarn feeds through the orifice, then through a hole in the flyer and onto the bobbin. I've drawn an arrow where the yarn comes out. This facilitates the twisting/winding I talked about earlier.