The other day at the yarn shop, I received my check for two patterns that will be in the Spring 2013 Classic Elite Collection.  I jumped up and down and danced around the shop, clutching the check to my chest.  This was my spinning wheel money!

I have quite enjoyed spinning yarn on the drop spindle.  The rhythm of drawing out roving is meditative and satisfying.  However, holding the spindle up in the air is tiring, and it is frustrating to have to stop spinning when the strand is as tall as me.  I also ran into trouble as I filled the spindle with finely-spun yarn — the strand began to break under the weight of the already-spun fiber.  Plying was also a chore, to say the least.  It took me a week to spin through four ounces of roving, and (trust me) I was spinning all the time.

In short, I was quite certain a spinning wheel was in my future. I did my research, and settled on a Ladybug (by Schacht). I ordered the wheel, the attached Lazy-Kate kit, and the high-speed whorl with two high-speed bobbins.  I bought the wheel from The Woolery, in part because they offered free shipping. Also, I used their website extensively to help me decide which wheel would be right for me. They also give you a choice of either a $25 gift card for a future purchase, or a “Beginner’s Kit” with a niddy-noddy and a bag of practice wool.  I decided the niddy-noddy and practice wool would be more immediately useful, and placed my order!

(We shall not mention the week of stalking the UPS.com website.)

Here’s my box, complete with glowing-eyed canine guardians:

I love first peek into a box — almost regardless of what’s inside:

I took out the box of goodies and got my first good look at the wheel, then carefully pulled out the treadles and body:

Very important: find the ladybug! (Every Ladybug wheel has it’s own little ladybug, in a place unique to that wheel.)

Here’s all the stuff … time to IKEA this wheel!

Treadles, check!

Flyer, check!

Lazy Kate, check!

I also took some nicer natural-light photos today: