Yes, I do have a new wheel

I'm not really sure why, but when you have one spinning wheel, after a while, it seems to need company and eventually you have more! I have four. Now to justify the first three is sort of easy: one is my first wheel, an Ashford traveller, which lives at the beach; the second is a traditional Ashford, which I keep for my general, everyday spinning; the third is a Poly wheel, which is for all my big chunky spinning.

Surprisingly, I have been on the lookout for another wheel, but it was supposed to be for fine spinning and portable. Unfortunately, my friend Marion from Fancy Spinning a Yarn had a lovely wind wheel for sale. I resisted for quite a time, but finally succumbed.

Here it is:

 It's a wonderful quirky wheel that I've seen over the years. Everyone who has one loves them and I've had a spin on them and they're a very gentle wheel. Needless to say, I've always wanted one. It does fulfil one of my needs it does fold like this:

It's an Ettrick wind wheel and there's a history I don't quite know, but they weren't the original designer of the wheel. It has changed over time and they're still currently being made. Check out Ettrick. There's an interesting website, Australian Spinning Wheels, that has a brief description of various Australian wheels, including the wind wheel.

After my spilling of oil on the drive band, the wheel is slowly returning to normal...note to self...be careful with oil!

A new distraction

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Friends and family were plentiful as was the food and wine. We're now relaxing at the beach and enjoying the time out from the everyday.

We have had some technical difficulties, which included a virus....the first we've suffered that has affected us so dramatically. Let this be a warning to all to be careful of dodgy internet cafes. We've used some terrific ones, but they do need to be well set up....and usually when odd things happen we stop and think before clicking....this time we didn't.

Anyway we're almost back and I'll keep blogging when I can.

I have been busy though. Most noticeably I am falling in love! Let it be known that I have a new spinning wheel. It is a New Zealander, purchased from a friend. It's designed for bulky textured yarns and has the biggest bobbins I've ever used. We're still in early days. Some tender loving care has been administered, however, more seems to be needed and some personalisation seems to be in order.

This is my first skein, something simple just to get us used to working with each other.

Then I hit it with a big slubby yarn and lots of it....didn't even get close to filling the bobbin. This was to complete the fibre that I had already spun to match the fibre sponge cake yarn. The hat is still coming.

Finally, a really highly textured yarn, with lots of plying and things that could get caught. This is for the Summer school class that I'll be teaching in January. More about that later.

So, is the new wheel worth it. absolutely. My biggest worry was the lack of bobbins. Having two Ashford wheels meant that I had alot of interchangeable bobbins. However, the size of these is just great.

I will introduce the new wheel, but it is early days in our relationship and going public is always fraught with danger!