The Plunge

Well, I did it. I ordered a spinning wheel. It is the Kromski Minstrel, and I am really excited about it, but feeling guilty too. I never ever spend this much money on myself. Sean, my husband, wanted me to get this for myself for Christmas, though, and I am not going to worry about the cost anymore. The money is spent, no going back now. Yes, I could have spent the money on more practical things, but you can't just be practical all the time. No one is going to starve because we bought this wheel.

It is beautiful, isn't it? I can't wait for it to get here.

Why this spinning wheel? Well, it is an upright, so it will fit in our small house better than a saxony wheel. I also like the look of it. I also like that it has speeds from 6.5 to 16:1. And if you buy the accessory whorl, you can make that from 4.5 to 16:1. You can set this wheel up as either single or double drive, and since I don't know which of those I would prefer yet, that appeals to me. I have spun on a wheel with single drive and scotch tension, and I like it, but I didn't want to just pick single drive without being able to try both. It has no plastic parts. It seems that with no plastic parts that would have to be ordered, any good craftsman should be able to repair this wheel if need be, although it has a 3 year warrenty on all the parts. The only problem that I have with it is the place that I ordered it from has it listed as weighing 9 lbs, when it actually weighs 19 lbs. That makes it a little less portable than I thought, and I am not looking forward to lugging it up the steps at the Murrel house, LOL.

I bought this wheel from Woodland Woolworks, and got $40 dollars worth of craft cash to buy whatever I wanted from their site, and a ten dollar set gauge. I am going to buy a couple of extra bobbins and the extra whorl that gives you the 4.5:1 spin ratio. I need to get the rest of the fiber from Mr. Henderson prepped before the wheel gets here, LOL.



I have been doing some knitting too, almost finished with a surprise that I can't show on here until I have given it to the recipient. It is turning out better than I expected, though, and I think she is really going to like it. I really like making things for other people. It is so much fun.