Doing the Spinning Wheel Shuffle

Well, remember a while back I said that I was THINKING ABOUT switching wheels? Well this week, I did!

I decided to just put out some feelers on Ravelry and on the Kromski group list to see if anyone might want to buy my Kromski Sonata. Unfortunately, I got no immediate local interest. But several out-of-town spinners were interested. After being offered 2 male Alpaca geldings in trade by a woman interested in my Kromski for her daughter, I decided that in my suburban neighborhood, those Alpacas just wouldn't fit in. If they peeked their cute, furry little heads over my neighbor's fence, he'd freak out. Even though my husband said he wouldn't mind a break from cutting the grass, the alpacas could eat it - I'd have to shovel the droppings. So no, that wouldn't quite work.

Luckily a lady from the Dallas area was looking for a Sonata for her birthday. Funny, I got this Sonata for MY birthday. So she ended up being the buyer who got my wheel and I mailed it off to her Friday night.

So then I went on a wheel search. I'd been thinking about several different ones, as you know. I ended up getting a really good deal on a Mach II wheel by Spinolution from a dealer here in Missouri who needs to sell hers in order to get the new Mach III when it comes out. This wheel says "Mach I" on the back, but the dealer did all the upgrades to make it a Mach II. So it's a Mach II in terms of function.

I was sorely tempted by the smaller (portable) Spinolution Bee, but decided that I need a good all-around workhouse wheel first before I get tempted by another portable.

If I like the Spinolution enough, who knows, I might eventually get the Bee also. But for now, my Mach (which weighs 22 pounds) does not fold up, but it comes with a travel strap and wheels, so it can be pulled pretty easily and effortlessly if I'm walking down the sidewalk etc.

This wheel is not nearly as PRETTY as my Sonata was, but hey, I need high functioning much more than pretty at this point. So the utilitarian nature of the Mach attracted me more than the pretty. In fact, when the huge bobbins are stored on the side, the wheel looks (to me) like a space alien, with a bobbin nose in the middle. This wheel looks like a portly but reliable man to me - or again, quirky like maybe a space alien. Various men's names are running around in my head . . . Henry, or Oscar? Any ideas will be considered.

I was able to make this trade and did it without investing extra $$$. So though I might eventually get the "dream wheel" that combines function AND appearance, right now I'm very happy with the switch. The Mach spins like a DREAM. The treadling is so easy I hardly move a toe and it spins everything from lace weight to art yarn. Yay!!!

Pardon me, but I've got to go spin now. Love, love, love.