I lose track of everything…what it is, where I got it. how much there is…everything. I guess in the long run it doesn’t matter. But I do mentally spank myself.
@Callielw Several of my friends at a spinning retreat had them and they were able to spin anything the rest of us were doing.
Does that do any good? I think I’d still forget. I’ve been giving my wheel a workout this week. 900 yds of 2 ply fingering and DK. I love spinning. I did some reviewing on spinning bulky yarn. I think it ended up super bulky.
@Callielw No not really. Wow great spinning. I’ve been spinning off and on. Working on a braid, unidentified, from a guild sale. It came with a Kundert spindle. I haven’t tried the spindle yet. I’m pretty sure it’s Merino. Seems like it’s going on forever so it will most likely wind up fingering.
I’m multicraftual when it comes to fiber arts. I also have ADD so I tend to jump from project to project like an amorous toad. I’ve found that keeping a project journal has been a lifesaver. I use a good old fashioned daytimer type binder with tabs for each craft (knitting, weaving, spinning, etc). Each project has it’s own page with pertinent info, and for those with patterns, there is a copy of the pattern in a sheet protector with notes on where I am in the pattern. It can be a cumbersome system, but it works better than any other that I’ve tried.
Great Idea…I like that “multicraftual” heh
I know this is an older thread, but I thought I’d show off my new wheel!! The new one is the light colored one, the darker one is the older wheel I got from my MIL. The older wheel is going to my granddaughter for her birthday, and the new wheel is my birthday present. Just a bit early.
That’s exciting - lucky both of you!
Happy Birthday–what a fun birthday present! Sounds like you and your granddaughter have lots of fun spinning times in your future! I have an Ashford Traditional and I love it! Mine is an older one that I got used, but I upgraded it to a double treadle and got an sliding hook flyer for mine. They just don’t wear out! I hope you can both join us for the Spin de Fleece later this year!
Happy birthday all around! What a wonderful idea to spread the craft. I can see you and your granddaughter sitting side by side spinning.
@Readyfox
She is actually the reason I took up spinning. We were at a fiber festival and she wanted to know how to spin. I bought a spindle and was learning, when my MIL mentioned a wheel in her basement. This wheel had been “decoration” while my children were small and they were all allowed to play with it. Went down and took a look and my DIL said “That’s and ashford wheel”. I took it home and patched it up and became a newbie spinner. That’s been a number of years ago now and MIL passed away a few years ago but I think she’d be pleased that GD is now going to use the wheel. MIL never did spin on it she just liked having it around.
Just came across a Schact Ladybug on Craigslist $585 with a bunch of accessories…using all of my strength not to call. I am hoping a Sidekick will come up someday, but darn that is a pretty good price for a very good condition wheel.
The struggle is real.
So, the Schacht Ladybug converts to Double Drive, while the Sidekick does not but does have additional whorls that you can buy separately, but the Sidekick is a little more expensive (I imagine due to the folding up capability.) So having different whorls does not equal Double Drive capability, correct? Is double drive to save energy? time? Is it mainly good for advanced spinners? production spinners?
I have a ladybug. I rarely use double drive but there are many that swear by it for different kinds of spinning. Each spinner has to find their own rhythm. Whirls make the wheel spin at different speeds for the same amount of treadling. A ‘fast’ whirl will allow the wheel to spin more revolutions for each treadle than the ‘slow’ whirl. (which means the bobbin goes around more times adding more twist with each revolution. Again, each spinner uses them for their own style of spinning. If I want more twist, I generally use a smaller whirl. Sometimes, I am content to just treadle fast to get the same amount of twist with a different whirl.
Well, @Callielw I have joined you as a proud Ladybug owner, so I’m hoping you won’t mind if I pick your brain once in a while! I am getting to know her a bit this week with some merino/nylon sock combed top while I wait for my hand dyed BFL/nylon to dry.
I don’t know how much help I would be, it is an individual thing, depending on what you want to accomplish, portability, etc. I was drooling over both the Joy3 and the Schact Sidekick, for the portability, but when my Ladybug sat on Craigslist for over a week, I thought it was a good sign. I was also happy with the versatility of it (double drive) and the fact that it came with a bunch of extras: whorls, the onboard Lazy Kate (which is kind of meh,) books, some nice Ashford hand cards, and a couple of niddy-noddies. The final plus was that it was 10 minutes from my house, and I don’t love driving in Boston! It fits in the back seat of my car, and although I can’t hike up to the top of a mountain to spin with it, it is easy to move around and takes up less room than a traditional wheel. Maybe someday I will hit the jackpot and find an affordable used Sidekick to go with it. One thing you may want to check out is the cost of the Bulky Flyer that goes with the wheel. I won’t be getting one of those any time soon!
I just had to share that I tried double drive for the first time today with some merino/nylon sock blend. I was getting frustrated with how hard it was to treadle with my faster whorls and decided to experiment. So far I like it a lot!
I have an Ashford Elizabeth, but I have never used it more than a few minutes…I need to experiment with double drive one day.