Swat-ch….technically it should be six letters, but Swatch falls into that four letter word category if you ask me! 
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I normally am not the swatching type.  If I am going to knit a sweater, I will start with a sleeve and check my gauge and adjust and just remember to do the same thing on the other sleeve.  In this case, I was trying to make up my mind what colorway to use and needed to swatch to get an idea of which one I like.  Trouble is, I still don’t know.  The process included knitting a swatch with three different colorways of the same yarn special dyed by Miss Babs in

East TN.  I am going to begin a lifetime work (hopefully not that long, but just in case….) which is the Peacock Feather Shawl by Fiddlesticks.  Not sure why I feel compelled to knit this as I am not usually a lace knitter, but there it is.  I knit a couple of garter rows between each color and each section took about a night or maybe two, then I soaked and blocked the swatch.  I took pics of the swatch to see if the camera could tell me something my naked eye could not see. 
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I know, I know, it’s been awhile.  I am a baaad blogger!  Life has been really busy.  I joined the Biggest Loser group at work and lost 8.2 pounds in two weeks so far.  At the end of three months, the person that has lost the largest percentage will win the pot of money.  Everyone that entered paid a certain amount to participate.  Knowing you have to weigh really does make a difference.
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I went to Atlanta this past weekend and visited 10 (yes TEN yarn shops).  Quite a feat!    The most interesting shops were The Whole Nine Yard and Knitch.  Of course, every store has a point of interest or two.  There was only one store that I visited where I did not make a purchase at all.  For the most part, I purchased buttons, patterns and a few magazines.  If you can believe this, I only purchased sock yarn – enough to make three pairs….and one of those was for Jan.  Hard to believe, I know….
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THE Shawl….it’s done!  Whew and Yah.   This shawl began taking form in March and was finished this past weekend in

  3.5 balls of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn, size 5 needles, Loop de Loop Shawl pattern
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for quite some time now.  I cast on yesterday morning and it is a quick knit and half over….
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I dyed a sock blank at sadly/gladly blogless Jan’s house a couple of weeks ago.  It is the kind that has two strands of fingering weight yarn held together and machine knitted into a blank canvas.  You (me the dyer) then take the dye and dye it to your taste.  It was kind of like being in kindergarden and was fun!
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Hope you are having a great day and stay Cool! 

Jake, Gracie and I participated in an agility trial this past weekend nearby…that means not a lot of driving and close to home.  Yah for that.
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We have had a dry spell in trials lately…..dry spell meaning that we do one little thing wrong or something happens to keep us from getting a Q (qualifying).  Then, other trials, out of the blue, we will Q like crazy and I can’t tell from rhyme or reason why.    
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We have been training hard and really focusing on team work.  I took all of my dogs back to basics on turns to be sure we were getting tight turns and to ensure they knew where they needed to go next to be most efficient.  Instead of using Left and Right commands, I use Come and Turn.  Come means come toward me and Turn means go away from me.  This is a very handy skill to have and it gives the dogs more confidence because they know what to do next when I tell them to Turn or Come.  Come is especially handy when you need your dog to move away from you and go out and take another obstacle when you just don’t have time to get there yourself.  
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 On Friday, Jake earned his MXJ which is his Master Agility Jumpers title.  This means he qualified ten times in Excellent B class.  He can go on to earn as many MXJs as he can, but at the same time, he works toward his MACH which is the Master Agility Championship title.  To earn this title, the dog has to get 750 points and 20 DQs (double qualifying runs).   To earn points, they get a point for every second they run under course time when they qualify.  If they place first, they get to double those points.  If they come in second, they get to multiply the points by 1.5.  Bet you didn’t know my dogs could multiply, LOL.  Hmm, good thing they can, because my mind calculator is not so sharp nowadays, ha.   Jake also got a DQ on Sunday and he missed getting third place in Jumpers that day by a FRACTION of a second…..a very small fraction.  It was such a fun run and I was so proud of him!
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 The highlight of the weekend though happened Friday when Gracie FINALLY got her Open Standard title.  She had two qualifying legs to get her title, but needed one last third leg…….well, she got it and boy was I a happy camper!  Part of her issues relate to the fact that she had to wait so long between runs or even to run her first run…sometimes up to six hours.  Since she has moved to the Excellent class, her wait times will be much less and I think this will help her tremendously.
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 To sum it up, Jake got his MXJ and a big pretty ribbon, a DQ including a pretty rainbow ribbon, and had four qualifying runs.  Gracie got first place and her Open Standard title on Friday and Qd in Jumpers on Sunday.   My dogs have always done well at this venue and I plan on showing there every chance we get.
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Knitting—on the knitting front, I am working on the Ozmosis sock from Panda Cotton during the day during times I have to wait and I am working (still) on the Noro Loop de Loop shawl – I am on the last (third) triangle and there is hope in me finishing this one!
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I have so many projects that I want to start (and hopefully finish), but there is never enough time.  I have been spinning too.  The temps have been nice and I took my wheel out on my deck Monday night and spun for a couple of hours.  My favorite place to spin is outside on my deck because the light is so much better and I enjoy seeing the colors flow like water through my fingers onto the bobbin.
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Big plans for the 4^th?   I plan on knitting, spinning and also Jan and I will be dying a striping sock blank that I recently ordered.  That should be fun!
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Sock Knit Night is Thursday, 04-03-08, hope to see you there!

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Finally..this pattern is available.  It has been a year in the making, but is well worth it.
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This pattern has a very cool modified Eye of Partridge heel.  This heel edge rolls over slightly and tends to kind of ‘hide’ the view of the stitches you pick up on the gusset.  This pattern highlights a short cuff and is knit in Panda Cotton.  This pattern would look really nice as a long sock as well and in any yarn, variegated, semi-solid or solid.  Knit on size 1 needles, of course, LOL.
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If you have not knit with Panda Cotton, the knitted material feels Really nice!

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Things I Like covers a lotta ground.  Today, the Things I Like are color and fiber related.
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Warning:  Heavy enabling post with pretty, tempting pictures!  (Danger, danger Will Robinson)
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Pattern:  I love the Ying and Yang of this pattern and it is very appropriately named. I love the looks of the Tye Dye yarn and may make this using that yarn, but I keep seeing Lime Green on one side and Rich Purple on the other.  Hmm…
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Ravelry and New-To-Me-Vendors.  I love Ravelry.  My pocketbook hates Ravelry.  It is a love-hate relationship, but I can see it will withstand the test of time.   Ravelry introduce me to a new-to-me vendor called Dragon Fibers.  She dyes very nice colorways in both fiber and yarn.  Want evidence….
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Merino/Tencel-Nightshade and SW Colonial-Banded Iguana
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Her yellow labels are very subtle and a pale yellow….but there is little metallic things in there for a little bit o magic.
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 Ramen yarn in Masquerade colorway.  This yarn will stripe subtly.  I like it!
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Give me an “Oh my….”
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I also did a little shopping on Yarny Goodness’ website and I now have a blank of the Flat Feet that STRIPES….what I have been after all along.  I can’t wait and I love the colors!
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While I was at Pam’s YG site, I also picked up a hank of Knitspirations in Fall Leaves colorway.  
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       Vedddy nice - I. Like. It.    Fall Leaves
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Another thing I like is having time to do something with all this Likableness.  I would like to have that time….I need a nap though, I was up all night working on a computer release and have one coming down the pipe now.  I will be back at it again at midnight through Friday morning.  I can see a long nap and possibly some fiber mixed in all those little cracks (and work, of course).   Now, that is a Thing I Like!

Next post will be about Ravelry, how to scope out other people’s yarns they are willing to trade and an very nice lady I met through Ravelry.
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Oh, I picked up the CSA yesterday, greens—not so much a Thing I Like except in a salad, LOL.  Have a good one everybody.

(great fibers pictures further down in the post)
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When I was young, I would go see this Dr. Baxter who was a child’s dentist.  If you were really good, he let you go in his closet where there was a BIG chest and pick out a prize.  He also had a clock on the wall that looked like a black and white cat and his tail and eyes moved back and forth.  I was always good there because I did not want to miss out on the treats.  Pretty cool concept, you be good and you get a prize or treat.  Years (and years) later, this concept still works.  What a concept! 
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My friend sadly or gladly blogless Jan is a perpetuator of this concept.  It works for me!  Jan has traveled extensively and enjoys eating many different ethnic foods.  I don’t.  I find something I like and stick with it.  I try new things from time to time, but go back to my ‘same ole same ole’ as it is what I like.  Last year, Jan guilted me into going to a Turkish restaurant called Anatolia near Haus of Yarn.  I actually liked it.  I go there once a month now.  On our first visit, we had a good time and Jan gave me a ‘prize’ for being brave and trying something new.  My ‘prize’ was a set of polymer sheep stitch markers from Wool Girl.  Very cool and I love them.  Luc liked them too, he at the head off of one, sigh that is another story though.
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Are you asking where is all this going?   I had to lay the background out for you….
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Anyway, Jan and Darlene (another friend) and I are splitting a CSA (community supported agriculture) share and we get a box of organically grown fruit and vegetables each week.  Lately we have been getting chard, turnip greens, you get my drift….greens.  Ugh.  I like uncooked things like spinach in a salad, but I don’t like soggy, limp UGH green leafy cooked to death stuff.  So, Jan and Darlene have been keeping my share of the greens (kindly enough) so they did not go to waste.  They put their heads together and decided I would like greens if they were prepared the right way.  They decided to prepare a meal around our CSA share last week as neither of them had to work Friday.  So, I came to dinner and my contribution was a couple of bottles of wine (yum and I am not normally a wine person, but this was good stuff!).   We had fresh fettuccine with freshly made pesto, romaine salad with warm bacon dressing, grilled shrimp and (you guessed it) turnip and chard greens. 
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I had told them I would keep an open mind and try them, but I wasn’t promising to like them.  Greens that is.  So, first I got a smallish kind of spoonful of them and ate them during the course of eating other things.  I then got another spoonful that was somewhat bigger, but not heaping.  I lived through it.  It wasn’t awful, and was okay.  I took home leftovers, but not including greens, LOL.
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So, I jokingly told Jan that I tried greens and asked what my prize was.  Well, folks, there was a prize.  A good prize.  Jan is also Daily Fibers and I got a 4 oz hank of superwash Merino as my prize and, you guessed it, it was greens (and blues).  I also bartered for a Fallish kind of colored roving too as it was too pretty pass up.
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Daily Fiber 
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Speaking of fiber, I made my first purchase from Loopy Ewe late last week.  It arrived today.  Fiber.  Yummy Fiber.  It is from the Dyeing Arts.  The concept I think is that 2 ounces of two colors that work together make a roving.  The roving looks like its all one piece and the color looks mixed together, but I will take their word for it.
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DyeingArts.
 Goblins Bruised Elbow
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 Lavender’s Grean  
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I also joined the monthly Chameleon Fiber Club a few months ago and this month’s fiber is really, really nice!    50 % merino/40% bamboo/40! nylon.  The color is Stonewashed and I LOVE it!
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Chamelon’s Stonewashed
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It is Knit in Public day tomorrow, Saturday.  I will be Wojrking in Pubilc tomorroow at Haus of Yarn.  Come by and see me if you are out and about in Nashville.

Or, oh crud, I am not going to have enough yarn!   Hmm, that is what I was saying last week.  I am on my third ball of the Noro Sock Yarn color S40, lot B.  I thought I had plenty.  Nope, three is not going to do it.  When I started this project, I am not I would have started if I realized it would take four balls of this stuff.  It is pretty though and there is no taking it back at this point.  I picked up STS for the last triangle this weekend, but ripped it out today because I had a selective memory when it came to the cast on.  I used a cable cast on all the cast ons except the last one….because I did not remember.  Memory?  Sigh…   I was not happy about the color sequence that I was at when I cast on either, so it was better to rip than to be unhappy after already putting in this much knitting.
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So, what did I do about being short a ball?  I got on the internet and sent out a few inquiries to see if any of the shops had any.  Simply Socks wrote the next morning and said they had 13 balls in my color/lot.  Yippee.  I ordered on Wednesday and it arrived Saturday.  Whoa, seriously quick service!

I have been abstaining (gasp) from other knitting projects while working on this one just so I can ‘power through it’ as Carolyn would say.  It has been over a month though and I took a break and started swatching for the Peacock Feather Shawl.   What am I swatching with?  
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  Miss Babs is custom dying some yarn for me and she dyed three samples for me to choose from.  This yarn is 50% wool/50% silk and it is oh so nice and not a fairy wing thick kind of lace, but substantial lace and I like that!   I love the colors too.  Have not made up my mind yet though.

Planted a few flowers.   Pretty darned hot out though, I am glad I went for the full sun variety this year. 
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Anybody know what these are?  I love them, but don’t remember
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  Gerber Daisies.     Pentas -
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Icehouse flowers - a perennial

 Even the pool is warm.   Thank goodness for A/C!

Oh, so for my adventure last week…..I ate greens.  I will write about that tomorrow.  Hmmm

XXX sex

Manufacturers Shop

I need to post this on the front of my fridge as well as my LYS.

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Thanks for this picture, Emma!
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I was tagged for a meme….I have never known that that means exactly, but since I was tagged, I went to find out.  If you check out Refdesk (one of my favorite sites), you will find:
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Meme  n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.
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While there, I saw a link for “four for Friday” which is four questions to ask for a meme every Friday.  You can find it at www.belicove.com.   I also saw a funny or interesting quote there:  “People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it’s safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.” ~ Ashtashinski (2004)
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I was tagged by Robin and found her answers interesting to her questions and thought I would play along.
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The rules: Posted here at the beginning.  The player answers all questions.  The player then chooses six people you want to know more about and tags those people by listing their names at the end of the post and going to their blog and leaving a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.  Also, you let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
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1) What was I doing 10 years ago?  1998 - I was working for an offshore company (Taiwan) here in the US and was known as the Rotor Girl.  I sold brake drums and rotors, played golf, knitted and took my dogs walking on a regular basis.  There were not many women working in this industry and I had to learn to play golf, smoke a cigar from time to time and eat strange foods that I was not familiar with. 
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2) What are five things on my to-do list today (not in any particular order)?  1) vacuum the pool, 2) do laundry, 3) give one of the dogs a bath, 3) get an AKC license for one my agility dogs, 4) finish a sock pattern for a very soon-to-be event (this pattern has been requested for about a year now) and (of course) 5) finish the Noro sock yarn shawl.
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3) What snacks do I enjoy?  Like, Robin, I never met a snack I didn’t like!   I try not to keep stuff at the house because if I do, I will eat it.  I am not safe from myself.  I. Have. No. Willpower.  I usually prefer sweet over salty, but if I had to name a few, it would be Dove milk chocolate, chocolate covered almonds, chocolate pudding and Purity ice cream sandwiches (they have crunchy kind of sandwich cookies around the ice cream). 
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4) What are some places I’ve lived?  Nashville, TN; Texas; Hendersonville, TN, Pittburgh, PA; and now Nashville, TN again.  When I was young, I used to live in a tent on an island at a lake near here each summer.   When it was time to go to the store, you got in the boat and went.  When it was time to take a bath, you got in the lake.   It was quite odd to come inside to a house at the end of each summer.
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5) What things would I do if I were a billionaire?  1) pay off my bills, 2) find prime real estate of at least 50 acres and fence it off/build an agility facility/and house and move there, 3) set up some sort of fund/endowment for companion animals, 4) add a center to the new property where people can come stay and take classes such as spinning, knitting, painting, etc., 5) knit and spin, 6) throw away my alarm clock 7) make a difference in other people’s lives without them knowing where it came from and I am sure a few other things.  They big question is always “Will you quit your job?”   The answer would come from a Gretchen Wilson song and that would be “Hell yes.”  I would still do something worthwhile, but that would be a work in progress.
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I am supposed to tag 6 people to do the MeMe.  I don’t know that many people with blogs, but I do know one that might be interested and that is Erin.

Knitting Progress -  I have been knitting what seems like for darned ever on the Loop de Loop shawl.  The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and a size 6 needle.  I am using the Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn and a size 5 needle.  I doubled the number of stitches called for in the pattern thinking it needed to be upsized since I was using smaller yarn.  For some reason, I thought the pattern called for worsted weight so I took that into consideration when I doubled everything.  Hmmm.  The finished shawl will be a very generous size, but I don’t think it will be humongous either.  I am on the beginnings of the third ball and think I will be able to finish on that note.  The middle square is finished and I am halfway through the right side elongated triangle.  After that, the left will need to be done and I will need to think about an edge to go around the whole darned thing and tie it in.  That is, if I think it needs it.  At any rate, I think it is pretty so far and is interesting with the stripes going in different directions. 
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shawl pattern          my shawl Yesterday, I shared a picture of a bottle of oil with a very long tip that I purchased as the fiber festival this weekend and said it could be used for what was in Box #1
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What’s in Box #1? Hmm, it’s more fun to see the actual ‘what’ than guessing, so let’s get right down to it. I constantly peruse the want ads and classifieds online for used fiber equipment.  Ya just never know!   At times, I slack off from looking because I am afraid I will find something that I can’t pass up, but don’t really need.  A few weeks ago, I was online late one night and thought that it had been awhile since I had looked at my usual sites.   Bad, bad, bad mistake.  Or good find.  Not sure which, LOL.  Good for me, bad for my pocketbook.  I am going to look at it from this viewpoint:  I stimulated the economy.  Easy come, easy go.   
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Box #1 contained a Schacht Matchless Double Treadle and I took pictures as I got it out of the box.   Pieces that is.
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The wheel was slightly disassembled.  Don’t let the word ‘slightly’ make you think it was easy to put back together again.  I had a wrestling match with something called a Barrel Nut and the front end of the wheel frame.  The treadles were rubbing against the wheel and footmen and I could not figure out what was wrong.  I took it all apart again and looked at the frame and figured out that something was not quite seated like it should be.  Once I got that part situation and put together again, it worked without the treadles rubbing against something they shouldn’t.   During the time the wheel arrived, I was working a lot of weird hours and was really tired.  I am not really sure my energy level is back to where is usually is too.  At any rate, it took a couple of nights to get the wheel to where it needed to be, but I was just not up to trying to spin on it yet.  I wanted to wait till I was not tired and was able to try it out without getting mad or upset about it.  It is supposed to be a relaxing thing…..     
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It was interesting figuring out how to get the bobbin on, but I looked at pictures and figured that one out.  Boy, it is much different than the Majacraft. This past Sunday, I was finally at the point where it was time to get the Matchless and try that baby out.  There was one word that came to mind when the spinning began and that was Suh-weet!    
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Comparing the two wheels, I think both the Majacraft and Schacht are very smooth treadling wheels.  Majacraft are true double treadles where the Schacht has both footmen attached to one rod.  The Schacht requires much more oil than the Majacraft in several different places.  You are able to get many different ratios on one Majacraft whorl than on the Schacht.  With the Schacht, I think you would need more whorls to get the same kind of different results compared to the Majacraft.  The wood on the Schacht is a hardwood and my wheel looks brand new even though it is not.  The Schacht’s frame is a work of art and the wood is quite beautiful where the Majacraft wood is somewhat soft and easy to create little dings.   The main reason I was interested in the Schacht was the double drive feature.  I had not clue what DD was like or why I would want it, but I knew that I wanted to find out.  So, the wheel is set up in DD mode and I sat down Sunday and spun.   Very nice!    Now, the pondering and deliberating begins on whether to get a Woolee Winder.  I started to order one before the wheel even got here.  I kept making myself wait until I spun on it to make sure I liked it.  I like it, but have not made a final decision yet.  The wheel only came with one bobbin.  Bobbins cost the same thing  as the WW bobbins so that is a point in the WW’s favor. If I were a first time wheel buyer, I would still recommend the Majacraft over the Schacht simply because of the number of ratios you get with the standard wheel and whorl.  If you are gong to have two, I say one of each please, LOL.  .