[Shnoowie]

This morning OH and I left the house at 7.30am to drive 2 hours to Taunton to get my 'new' spinning wheel. 
I'll try to get this right...it is an Ashford with a single drive scotch tension.  Managed to get 4 bobbins, a lazy susan and 2 hand carders with it and am very pleased!  Total bargain! The picture attached is the picture from the ebay listing.
It has had a bit of a clean and will be 'wash and waxed' tomorrow with some proper wood soap and wax polish.  We've had a play with it this afternoon despite needing a drive band (currently green string) and a new con joint (formerly perished leather, now even more green string) it spins beautifully.  We've also managed to get the tension set properly...though apparently I pull a wide range of faces while trying to spin.  Haven't had to use this much coordination since I was learning to drive; it is definitely a practice-practice-practice hobby, and I'm very glad we've got a glut of fleece at the moment!

[little blue]

cool!  good luck with that!     what are you going to make first?

[Hilarysmum]

That is some wheel!.  My very clever friend made her own to begin with, out of a bicycle wheel.  Were those carding combs included? 

[Shnoowie]

Little blue; at the moment I'm still getting the hang of it, but I'm hoping to produce some sheep wool/yarn to sell locally and also some alpaca too.
Hillarysmum; the carders were included in the sale - they are huge!  I've been using dog slicker brushes to card my wool, but these card ten times the amount in a quarter of the time!

[Bionic]

Shnoowie,
When you say the carders are huge roughly how big are they?.  I bought a secondhand wheel years ago and carders came with it but I had assumned they were all the same size.
If yours are much bigger than mine and you say they get the job done much quicker I might invest in a pair.
thanks
Sally

[Fleecewife]

Well done Shnoowie - you'll soon get the hang of it  .  You adjust the tension as your bobbin fills up, so if the yarn isn't being pulled away from you to wind on you tighten the tension knob just a fraction until you are happy with it.  When you start a new bobbin remember to loosen the tension again so it's not pulling too hard so you get underspun yarn whipped out of your hand.
For polishing, I use 3 coats of Danish Oil which gives an excellent finish.
It's a Lazy Kate   (saves a slavey standing there to hold the balls while you ply) A lazy Susan stands on the table and lets you select your cakes easily   - you could have one of those too to keep you fed while you spin  

Happy spinning  

[Shnoowie]

Hehe, oh dear, I think I have a lazy susan and a lazy kate...OH has said 'they're both girls names' - close enough!
The carders are around 8" x 6" - they look like the Ashford large carders but don't have any branding and are quite old.  Their spikey bits (so technical!) are quite stiff too - not at all flimsy!
I have spun about 1/3 of a bobbin and am slowly getting used to the tension, I can almost treadle without thinking too...almost! Now waiting for my next piece of fleece to dry ready for carding tomorrow evening

[Hilarysmum]

My friend (again) made her own carders as they were too expensive for her budget.  I know she spent forever drilling holes for huge nails and it took a few atempts but finally they worked for a cost of about 8 euros.  She is very resourceful.  I would hav given in , broken the budget and bought the carders.

She now has a large loom and last week made a lovely scarf using fleece from one of our ex sheep. 

[Fleecewife]

Hi Shnoowie - how's the spinning coming on?

[Shnoowie]

Its going well   Not had as much time as I would have liked in the past few days, however I have tried my first bit of double ply and knitted with it.  The final result looks a bit like a fisherman's jumper!  I've had another small spinning session this afternoon and my single ply spinning is becoming a lot more consistent.
I love this!

[Fleecewife]

That's great          I spotted a lovely fleece to spin so was standing by when the ewe was shorn - skirted, picked, washed, carded and tonight I hauled out my big Lendrum and have started spinning.  Freshly shorn fleece is so much nicer to spin than last years.  Have you tried taking your wheel outside into the sunshine to spin?  It softens the lanolin, even when you have washed it, and the spinning seems to go much more smoothly - no good if it's windy though  

[jaykay]

How exciting, getting your own wheel - sounds like you're getting on pretty well Shnoowie  

Oh, I'm inspired now to go and spin outside. I must just clear up after (finally) planting out all the flower seedlings I'd started off and then I shall go out and spin and admire my work  

[Shnoowie]

I've just finished a heap of paperwork, so I'm going to treat myself to an hours spinning before I have to go back to work. 
What do you do with the spun wool which 'isn't quite'?  I've got a bobbin of double ply which is a too lumpy for knitting, and two bobbins of single ply which are too lumpy to really double ply.  It would seem a shame to waste them!  Shock horror, I only have one bobbin left to fill! Better get crafting!

[Fleecewife]

You could use them as 'reverse' lines on a jumper once you are spinning more evenly, so they stand out as textured effects.  My first jumper I did with Fibonacci stripes  - ie in the Fibonacci sequence of 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21, etc so you do your contrast stripe every 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 13th, 21st and so on row.  It sounds complicated but just about keeps your brain alive when knitting alot  and is a very pleasing spacing for any pattern - the rows keep getting further and further apart. The Fibonacci sequence is found in nature in things such as the way sunflower seeds grow, population explosions and so on.
Alternatively you could knit a beanie hat - that can be as lumpy bumpy as you want 

[Shnoowie]

I think a beanie hat may be slightly closer to my skill level!  Had a nice surprise while I was sat spinning; my 'little' (20 year old!) sister came home from work at an Alpaca farm with a feed bag full of black huacaya fleece!  Not the saddle, but all of the other bits; I carded some and it is so soft it is unbelievable.  I can't wait to try and spin with it!