Hello all,
I thought you'd like to hear about my quest for a serger, after giving me so much advice. Last week, I went to the store and had a tryout with several, and finally ended up buying a Babylock Enspire. Yes Beverly, with air threading system. But only after the lady at the store showed me how to thread it with the included threading wire (really no big deal). Yesterday, I was able to collect it, and directly made my first item with it: A little cap for DSIL, out of some high-quality jersey I used for a sweatshirt/long-sleeved Tee for me.
DSIL has loads of woollen hats etc. to keep her now bald head warm but she wished for something lighter for indoors. I don't know if I told you about her lymphoma? Well, she was on her way of getting better but still had the itchies, and then her leg went all puffed up again and they discovered a new growth and a different type of lymphoma. So she was in for surgery and a new chemo. And although they told her that this type of cancer answers very well to chemo treatment, they warned her that the side effects could, and probably would, be very extreme.
She had been diagnosed shortly before Christmas and has been so far two times in the hospital with a total breakdown of her immune system, and high fever to go with it. I've been to see her on Thursday and was shocked how ill she looked. Still, the hospital folks are certain that 'nothing worse' than a bad cold is the matter, and so we try to cheer her up as good as we can. That little cap will go into the hand wash later today, and afterwards I'll rinse it with disinfectant so that she can't catch anything from it, and drive out to see her again tomorrow.
But that was just a little test. As soon as I had the machine home, I put on new cones and threaded the machine from scratch, which was fun. I have in mind a larger flatlock project. Remember Sharon's Swoats? I liked them but disliked the seams sticking out that much. The lady in the store introduced me to a woollen yarn from Madeira which you can use for flatlocking, so I got two 200 m-bobbins of a colour named Blue Lagoon (a multicolour thread), and will try my personal swoat project with auntie's old sweaters.
And I plan to make my striped tees from a different pattern, a mix between boat neck and scoop neck. I'll keep you posted.
U.