More Opalessence

I've been doing more spinning on the Opalessence from The Woolen Rabbit (merino/silk/angora). I've almost finished the first ounce and I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit two more ounces on this bobbin (I have a total of 6 ounces and was going to try to spin 3 ounces of singles on two bobbins, then ply them together - probably on my Majacraft plying bobbin - to get a big skein of laceweight goodness). The Kromski bobbins are sized in the 4 ounce range, but silk and angora are so lightweight that you get more yardage per ounce out of them than you would wool spun at the same number of wpi.

One thing I have discovered is that I was underestimating the oil hog nature of a new Kromski. It is a well documented fact all over the Internets that new Kromskis need oiling. A lot. I actually unpacked and assembled the wheel two days before Christmas and started oiling and treadling to work the oil through the wheel, hoping to save myself some frustration when I introduced fiber to the wheel on Christmas day. I think I've got it pretty well started but as I was spinning yesterday afternoon, I noticed that the flyer wasn't seeming to move as quickly as I thought it should. I added some more oil to the leather bearings that hold the flyer and ZOOOM! It was off spinning the way it should and I was getting the twist into the yarn much more quickly. I seem to need to oil those bearings about every hour to hour and a half because the leather just eats up the oil. Coming from the Majacraft which gets oil in one place, once a year, I've had to adjust my thinking a bit on oiling a wheel. And just in case you were wondering, the way I understand it, once you get the wheel good and oily, you don't have to oil it anymore than any of the other wheels (but probably still more than once a year), it just takes a bit to get the oil worked through on the Kromski's.

Finally, my brother in law (my husband's brother) is going into the hospital today and will be there for 5 or 6 days. He has a severe virus that, while treatable, requires hospitalization and all kinds of poking and prodding by doctors that will be no fun. They hope to confirm the original diagnosis today and then start treating him and while I can't spell the stuff they'll be putting him on, I know that the diagnosis confirmation will involve a spinal tap. I know we'd all really appreciate prayers for him this weekend as he is going through this. Thanks! I'll see you all next year!

ETA: Lynn of the comments yesterday, I replied in the comments to your question about Bristow. Blogger doesn't give me email addresses to reply to.