I'll start with the wheels. I have a Babe,
an Ashford Traditional,
and a Louet.
I purchased all of them used over the Internet. The Babe was first. This one is a production wheel, and yes indeed that is PVC. It is lightweight, very hardy, and relatively inexpensive. When I first started, I had no idea if I would like spinning or be any good at it. I didn't want to spend a lot on something I hated!
Turns out, I liked it. So when I stumbled on an ad for the Louet, I jumped on it. It is, like the Babe, a bobbin-lead wheel, so I thought that would be a good transition. I love this wheel. Right now I do all of my spinning on it. It is an upright, Castle-style wheel, so it takes up less space in the living room.
The Ashford is probably what most people think of when they think of a spinning wheel out of the fairy tales. To be honest, I don't like it very much. It could be that I haven't used it enough to get used to the different tensioning system, because I know some people swear by them.
Anyway, those are my wheels. I'll answer any questions anybody may have, but right now that's all I got. A friend is bringing over a lamb for me to shear. I've never shorn a sheep before, so this could be interesting!
4 comments:
Very interesting indeed! Now you need to tell us how you got started with this and did you already have the llamas and alpacas or did you get them after you decided that you liked to spin?
cool!
too bad i don't know enough to ask questions. i'm off to metacafe and youtube to look for a demonstration.
if i find one i'll post it on my blog...
Duh. I should have linked to this site in the post. http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/begin2spin.shtml
Lots of videos and detailed information. Heck, I'll have all of you spinning yet!
I have an Ashford Traveller. The only thing I don't like about it is the flyer is to the left of the wheel instead of on top of it like on your Louet. My back gets sore if I spin for very long. For my next wheel I'd really like to get a Kromski.
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