The other day, as we were wielding crowbars and reciprocating saws, the phone rang. I heard Eric answer, and pass the phone to me, giving me one of those I-have-no-clue-who-it-is grimace through his safety glasses, hearing protector and mask.
Weeks ago, as I was dealing with Mr. Cranky's owner in Alberta, not quite convinced if he would send the machine to me or just stiff me for my money, I called around to find another CSM in case the deal fell through.
Well.
On Thursday, like manna from heaven, that phone call came. I had totally forgotten I had even made a few phone calls, since I had Mr. Cranky, now re-named Albert, in my possession. The person on the other end said he had a Legare for sale, and the asking price was so laughingly low, I think he could have taken it to a scrap metal dealer and gotten more money for it.
This is how we ended up taking a road trip on Saturday.
I had no clue what to expect; I kept my hopes down, expecting to find a rusting heap of metal, yet I still had a knot of anticipation in my stomach, a faint flicker of hope that this would be my dream machine.
When the seller took the box down from his storage area and placed it on the floor in front of Eric and me, I played it cool and calm. We picked up the CSM, a Legare 400, complete with 2 cylinders and a ribber, everything crusty with years of dirt and oil, and looked at each other, eyebrows raised, giving each other that "holy-crap" vibe through telepathy.
"This'll do", I said and handed over my money. I felt like I was committing armed robbery with the bank's supplied gun.
I had to restrain myself from taking the box, running to the car, and gunning it all the way home to inspect my booty.
The machine belonged to the seller's mother-in-law. She is long-gone, but I believe the machine served her well. It was well-used, well stored, and all the accessories in good order.
The machine is dirty - have no doubts about this - however, I went through the paces with Cranky, so cleaning Marie is going to be a cake walk.
Albert, meet Marie:
The CSM came complete with it's original wooden crate, and the following accessories:
A 36-needle ribber.
A 72-needle cylinder and a 54-needle cylinder (cleaned this morning).
The yarn-stand top.
The yarn-stand mast.
Weights and bobbins.
From top to bottom: pick-up tool, single heel hook and double heel hook.I feel so lucky I should probably buy a lottery ticket, but I think I won the jack-pot already.
2 comments:
Contratulations! The Legare 400 is my favourite machine. A real work horse.
Doug, I can hardly believe my luck! Even with its grime, it cranks so smoothly. I think this is going to be a great machine.
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