March 2

I have a new toy! I have been hand spinning for about 5 years on a double drive wheel that my parents bought back in the 70's as decoration. They gave me the wheel about 3 years ago and I have had tons of fun with it. The problem is there were no extra bobbins and the wheel is rare. So I don't feel comfortable taking it to spin in's or let children use it. Two of my daughters want to learn to spin on a wheel this year as a 4H project. So with some Tax return money I bought a Fricke s-160-F. The neat thing about this wheel is it folds up for easy portability. I plan to have a bag made for it. My big problem now is I have get used to a scotch tension. My old wheel didn't have a lot of difference in ratio so now I have quite a few options. I gave it a try out and realized its going to take me a few days to get the rhythm down. I'm looking forward to making some yarn up for a workshop I plan to attend later this month. I have in the past put together an Ashford traditional, I found the Fricke to be much easier. I think the hardest part was getting the cap off the Danish oil can. I kind of lucked out with the oil. Fricke's come with some of the wooden parts already finished. I bought the Danish oil a week or so ago and I chose medium walnut. As luck would have its just about the same shade as the pre finished parts.