Happy Birthday to Me!

Friday was my birthday, and it was lovely. I turned 32 again. (I have to choose my age carefully, since I don't want my kids to outgrow me.) My family and some friends came for dinner, which the KH cooked. It was delicious! Filet mignon roast, yum. And Younger Son, who is eleven and a big fan of baking, made me my favorite carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, which was outstanding. As usual, my overly-generous hubby gifted me with some lovely things. My favorite was something I've wanted for a long time. He's tried twice to make me one, but without the proper tools, it just wasn't happening. I am now the proud--and excited!--owner of this:

It's a blending hackle! I have some...okay, a lot...yeah, yeah, TONS...of undyed fibers in my knitting room, including merino, pygora, alpaca, angora, silk, tencel, and, of course three different breeds of dog hair, which I acquired in the hopes of coming up with some beautiful, unique fiber blends to spin and knit. First on my list, for years now, has been the bag of super-soft Molly fur in my knitting closet. Miss Molly crossed over the Rainbow Bridge almost three and a half years ago. I tried a few years back to spin her fur by itself, but it wouldn't hold together. I have long wanted to blend her lovely golden fur with some soft white merino to make yarn for an heirloom sofa throw for the family to enjoy. Now that I have my very own hackle, I'm ready to give it a try.

My dear brother-in-law consulted the KH for a gift idea and gave me a gift certificate to Knit Picks, which I think is going to be used for a tensioned lazy kate for plying. I have an Ashford Traveler, which has a built-in lazy kate. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well with my Woolie Winder bobbins, which have gears the Ashford bobbins don't have. I've thought about getting a tensioned lazy kate for a while to simplify plying, and with a gift certificate and a big spinning project in mind, now might just be the time. Anyone have experience using Woolie Winder bobbins on a lazy kate?