Wheel three..and four and five!

The day of three wheels!

Rappard -Wee Peggy

I had spent a lot more time researching and drooling over wheels in spinning groups. After losing out on heaps of wheels on eBay and Gumtree (sometimes by seconds) all the sudden I had a windfall! Back during my first or second day at spinning/weaving class I also had a bid on another Ashford Traditional, but this one was a double drive! So I got to celebrate that I won it and show pictures to other spinners there! However during this time I had also decided I needed (yes need not want) a double treadle and double drive traveller and after some chats with lovely spinners on the facebook group I arranged to buy one and my sister paid for it for xmas.

Both wheels took a bit of coordination to pick up as they were both over an hours drive away. Luckily while far away they were both close to each other. During this time to coordinate pick up both on one day I came across a highly sort after Wee Peggy and was able to coordinate pick up on the same damn day!

So a lovely Saturday morning rose and I drove to pick up the first wheel. The Wee Peggy, which happened to be only a street away from spinning group! I wish I had more time to talk to the lovely lady who had quite a story about the wheel (which was more furniture, but loved) and found a connection between her and the main aim of my PhD! Got her settled into my car and went for the long drive over the lovely rural Australia.

The Wee Peggy is made in NZ in Otago (where I was originally going for another PhD offer!) and every spinner I have spoken too says "if you find one grab it!". She is single treadle and double drive with an onboard Lazy Kate and and orifice hook. She is missing a tension knob to allow you to use it in scotch tension. So while not essential does reduce choice of drive type. I am trying to track down one jut for completeness. I put new shiny hooks on her with a new drive band, oil and wax.

Ashford Traveller

Wheel two was picked up at a Macca's parking lot! We must have looked funny as most people don't really see spinning wheels. Got to chat to a lovely lady who I had got to know and still chat to on the facebook group and add the wheel to my car.

This wheel is kinda the everything wheel! My first double treadle and my favourite type (over one foot). This wheel also has the ability to be set in single or double drive and has an on-board Lazy Kate. I love this wheel and it will be a forever wheel as it was a present from my sister and later one my father got my the jumbo bobbin (wider and bigger) for xmas. So this wheel is literally part of the family.








The last pick up was my Ashford Traditional double drive, another non-spinner seller who I think was a bit weirded out about the fact I had two other wheels in the car. A lovely drive back and I even stopped at a second store just to see if there was anything hahah.

This wheel is a work horse and was great. Like my first wheel, but this one had the ability to go double drive as well. She did get sold later for an xmas present to a new spinner. While I liked her these big saxony style wheels are hard for me to cart around and didn't offer anything new or interesting. I was thinking of decorating it back in the day (paint of wood-burning) but never got around to it before selling.

Family Picture! Minus my first wheel which got sold before this photo was taken

L-R: Wee Peggy, Celtic, Traditional, Traveller

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Hello Crafters!

Welcome to Spins and Weaves! A site on my adventures in crafts and also the occasional post of my adventures in a new town doing my PhD.

My name is Kira and I started my craft adventure back in 2006 when I was recovering from my second brain surgery (of three so far) and I joined the rest of the family doing cross stitch. Since then I spent many years doing cross stitch only. Last year for no reason in particular I decided to try my hand at knitting. Then this year I picked up three crafts including crochet, spinning and weaving!

Over the next few posts I will be introducing the different history of my crafts. Today will be an introduction into spinning with my first wheel!

I have no idea what made me decide "I need a spinning wheel". I had never seen anyone outside of tv spinning or tried hand spun yarn. So maybe as I later joked when brining it home, I am cementing my spinster-hood. So onto gumtree I went without much (any) knowledge and within a week I was driving to pick up my first wheel! If only I had known then what I know now!

Ashford Traditional 7/15

With more education I found out this was a single treadle, single drive. It also came with a niddy noddy (seen attached to the wheel). The bag also came with two spindles a dog comb (yes you use that in spinning) and some bobbins. The seller didn't really spin, but had the most amazing house and other crafts and enough musical instruments that I wanted to set myself there to live despite it being so difficult to find on a hill with tight streets. I would say this was a crica 1975 wheel due to the spokes and where the tension knob was.







After I got this home I tried the old YouTube catalogue of "Learn to Spin". I eventually got something that looked like yarn from some fibre I got from spotlight.

Pretty thick, but I miss being able to spin thick easily now!

It was within a week or so I went to my first class at Petlins at Rhodes, Sydney, Australia. I signed up via the site for both the loom weaving and the spinning class as they ran one after each other. I arrived nervous and a little late. I entered a small shop and couldn't see any people doing classes! After a chat to the owners I found out that the site did something funny with my classes and being me I was ready to leave rather than put someone out. The lovely lady, Linda, started pulling all the tables and everything out to get started. So after that small hiccup I spent a good number of hours weaving a scarf while people turned up with wheels and the footpath outside of the shop started to fill with the sound of chatter and flashes of beautiful fibre and yarn. I elected to finish my scarf during the spinning time instead of the lesson. By the end of the day I even got to try a wheel and learn how to start spinning properly.

This is a lovely first basic wheel that gets highly recommended to any new spinner. This is due to being able to easily get cheap second-hand ones and the quality of this NZ made wheel.

This lovely first wheel did get sold onto another spinner when I got other some other wheels which I will mention in my next posts!

However this was the beginning of the end for my bank account!

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