So I think I’m finally ready to talk about it without hyperventilating and making high-pitched noises. The story of how Mum bought two spinning wheels in one weekend is complex, but it ends with both of us taking home a box that looks like this:
Ever since I knew what it was, I have wanted an Ashford Traditional. It’s beautiful, of traditional shape yet with a modern curve, simple and leggy. At least three of the spinners I respect the most have a Traditional as their primary wheel. I loved Doris, got her sooner than I expected to get a wheel at all, and would have been content for a while, but at Sheep and Wool, opportunity struck like a lightning storm in Kansas. The moment was seized.
This is Mum’s – she got the unfinished double drive and finished it herself. Don’t you love how knotted the wood is on the wheel? It fits with the cherry finish so well. She got hers from the Yarn Barn of Kansas, and is probably doing hoppy dances of impatience while she waits for her spinning lesson on Sunday.
Mine came pre-finished in this wonderful pale pine color, somehow fitting its much straighter grain, from Yarns Unlimited. It’s a single drive, scotch tension.
Next week Jared & I are going home. We’re taking both my wheels (Bethany gets Doris for a shot at spinning herself), and we’ll get to see these two pretties side by side. I’m looking forward to seeing the two different drive types right next to each other. Neither of them have names yet; I suspect this is because they are twins at heart and can’t come into their own until they meet.
Osborn Fiber Studio 