Good things come to those who wait

It was just meant to be. I took back the Merritt machine on Monday with a load of clothes and kitchen stuff and took a quick spin through the sales floor of the Salvation Army. And let me say that if you were looking for anyone on Monday morning and couldn't find them, it was because they were in line at the Sal (as my son calls it). Seriously, the line was to back of the store and around the edge, and it's a large store - think Super Kroger or other big grocery store building. Anyway there was a Montgomery Ward machine with a vertical bobbin, but I wasn't really interested, especially considering the loooonnnngggg line. But I went back to today and, well, scored. Big. This little baby was just sitting there, in the back, nestled against a facial steamer and an answering machine, looking lost in the midst of old alarm clocks. It is a New Home SS-2105, which I believe is actually a Janome. It's all manual - no computer to mess with - there is a series of discs inside that create the stitches. It came with everything it started with, including extra bobbins and a package of needles. The "missing" foot from the top storage bin is actually on the machine. There's a quilting guide, zipper and overcast foot, additional spool pins, even the screw drivers, extra light bulb and hard cover. I'm not sure this machine had ever sewn a stitch. The only thing missing is the manual.

I had a little trouble getting it going at first, but it was all operator error. I first had to figure out how to make it straight stitch (duh, set the needle swing to 0) and then I had a time with the tension - I thought. You can see my nasty loopies on the left side. And you can see where it's much better on the right after I rethreaded again (thanks, Karen Roth ), don't know why that didn't occur to me to start with? I found a threading guide for a similar machine on line (it's also printed inside the swing-away cover on the left). I'm guessing this is a 1980's vintage? Not sure - I can't find much about it so far.

Anyway, I'm quite happy. And I got the whole scheebang for - are you ready for this? - $15. That's only $5 more than the Merritt that didn't stitch. SCCOOOOOOOORE.

I also found this book for $2 It's an amazing encyclopedia of stitches for knitting, crewel, embroidery, quilting, crochet, etc. Some nice photos, good directions. And, what snagged me, the author (or more likely compiler or just lent her name): Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter of "Little House on the Prairie" fame, Laura Ingalls Wilder.