Wheel 8 - I have Issues

This is a very recent purchase and one I have agonised over. I noticed this wheel quite a distance away, but knew for the asking price what I was getting could be quite a steal and something I could clean up and sell on. The Ashford Elizabeth 2 is the most current saxony type wheel and is considered the high quality wheel over the entry level Traditional. What also came with this wheel is the Elizabeth horizontal Lazy Kate, an Ashford Drum carder, spinning chair and some wool. So once I agreed on a price I was happy with my spinning friend and I went on an Adventure.

A lovely 2hr drive up the New South Wales coast line and a brief stop for maccas pancakes and we were there. We came back with an entire car load of stuff!

First the wheel (picture taken after I waxed and prettied it up)

Ashford Elizabeth

As you can see she is a lovely dark wood well balanced. Near perfect condition except a small chip on the flyers whorl. That is purely aesthetic though. It also came with the associated horizontal lazy kate. While there are pretty and probably better for plying (as both bobbins are the same height) I really hate having to balance all on one rod. Also 4 lovely double drive bobbins.

Lazy Kate

The other big part was the drum carder. After much research I found out it was an older Ashford Mini Carder. It was missing a drive belt, but easy fix. So that got cleaned up and I got to learn how to install the band (which required sizing and melting the end of the plastic band and joining. Burn-y fun! This has already been sold on as I have a bigger drum carder already.






Not pictured are the heaps of extras also received. There was a nice spinning chair (this got gifted to my friend who helped organise buying this wheel and came along for the drive). There was also a metal swift and ball winder which I also gave to her as I had the exact same skiener and just bought an electric ball winder on sale. What I kept was the still in its pack ashford niddy noddy (mine is old) which I will try and stain or decorate something interesting. Plus a huge amount of processed and un processed wool. I have two overflowing huge black bin bags in my car of unprocessed fleece. I also have some mohair and other assorted stuff to play with.

While I like collecting wheels I have to also like them. My rule is I wont buy I wheel unless the price is at a level I could re-sell if I don't like it. Plus the new owner generally gets a serviced and polished wheel. So I gave this girl a try and single treadles just aren't my friend. Probably because of my bad hips. Compared to the traditional this has a much better spin and a little more weight behind the wheel. The size is fairly comparable as this isn't the bigger 30' anniversary wheel. It also have a much more refined look, even the little gold plaque with the brand on it just brings it up the next level. It is not as heavy to treadle as my Celtic was so more ability to control it. A beginner could use it, but I do consider it a bit more of a semi-intermediate (have the ability to do basic spinning without constant breaks over super thick). Due to it being a bit more expensive it generally wouldn't be picked up by beginners much anyway. It also is just beautiful! I just can't have a functional wheel sitting there without love as much as I want to collect. When I have my own house these types of wheels that looks great but might nit be the best spinners will be everywhere!

So this lovely is up for sale. So a brief stay in my home for this wheel. However it's sale might be used for the next wheel ;)

Posted in: Ashford, spinning