Blanche is on the way!
I’ve talked about my spinning wheel, Rose, and I have to say I love this wheel. She spins like a dream, has a wide range of ratios (which determine how thick or thin a yarn ends up), and is easy to transport. I’ve only had one problem with it in the year-plus that I’ve owned it – the crank assembly separated from the back of the wheel last Sunday. It’s still usable, and an email to the dealer resulted in a brand new crank assembly being shipped from the manufacturer. Both Woollydesigns and Majacraft have excellent customer service, and I would (and have) recommended them both highly.
But, just as I have various spindles and knitting needles that all do the same thing, I’ve never thought that this would be my only wheel. When the opportunity came up back in May to purchase another wheel, I weighed the options and did the research as I did before buying the Rose, and decided on the Schacht Matchless.
There are a few differences – there are different ways of tensioning the Matchless, for example. Most people recommend trying a wheel before buying it, but I’d never tried (or seen) a Rose before buying it, and I love it, so I figured I’d just go ahead. Since I’m comfortable with a double-treadle, I decided to stick with that, but when I placed the order, I was told that there would be a looooong wait – the wheel wouldn’t ship until July, unless I wanted a single-treadle.
Well, July is here, and my wheel has shipped! It should be here Wednesday, which figures, because I took Tuesday & Wednesday off from work, and have a full day planned Wednesday – I probably won’t be home until late, so I’ll be lucky if I can get it assembled, never mind spinning.
