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Location: lake placid, florida

Friday, October 24, 2008

worth the wait

3 years ago, right before rhinebeck, i caved and ordered a wee robin from gil at robin wheels thinking i'd beat the rhinebeck rush.




lookie what mr. postman brought me last week.



the cutest little wheel. maybe cute isn't the proper adjective, the maple is frickin GORGEOUS!



ze front view



ze profile



ze rear view
i love the laminated wishbone of cherry and maple.
but the robin and i were having a wee problem. not being used to the bobbin lead, the roving was either zipping out of my hand, or i was frantically trying to hold on too tightly, or the yarn was breaking breaking breaking.
then the the calm soothing voice of the mother of all things fiber entered my head. ah judith, every class with you is worth it's weight in gold.
i remembered judith saying if you want less take up, wrap the bobbin with some foam insulation for pipes.


less than 2 bucks at the home depot.
measure the shaft of the bobbin, transfer the measurement to the foam, and cut. it even has sticky stuff on the edges. the foam for 3/4" copper pipes fits the wee robbin perfectly.



bobbin lineup, all snug in their insulated jackets.



hello lovah.



gratuitous dog photo. shimmo at less than 6 months is almost as big as madaket. his paws are much bigger than hers. he is exactly what i hoped, a big old honking black lab :-)

20 Comments:

Blogger Anne P said...

Congrats on the wheel! I hear those were VERY popular at Rhinebeck.

Enjoy your spinning!

10:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love it, Vanessa! Gorgeous. I took a class with Judith at Rhinebeck -- she complimented my Reeves frame wheel!!!

1:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Have a wonderful time spinning with it.

3:33 PM  
Blogger Chery said...

Beautiful wheel. I'd love one, too. Oh, well...

4:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a wonderful wheel! And thanks for telling about the idea with the insulation foam!
another thing: the url which you leaven when you post a comment on my blog has a typo (just in case this is a general problem, I had at the beginning issues with this because the url which was there didn't worked and it took a little to get the letters in the right order to get to your blog).

Greets

Julia

5:08 PM  
Blogger Mary in VA said...

Gosh that is gorgeous! Congrats.

7:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's one beauty wheel, girlfriend! I love the grain in the treadles.

7:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmmmm, bee-you-tee-ful! I am still scratching my head about the insulation trick but will take your word for it. :o) I'll be curious to see how much those bobbins hold.
May you both be very happy with one another!

8:09 PM  
Blogger Vicki said...

What a beautiful little wheel! May you have lots of fun times spinning on it.

8:38 PM  
Blogger Melanie said...

Ooooh Baby! That's one fine looking wheel. I wish you many happy hours together!

8:42 PM  
Blogger June said...

Oh Wow Vanessa! How very, very cool. I love your new wheel, I almost caved on the Robins a few times myself! And, I need to find an available class to take by Judith!! I learn through you. . . Thanks so much for sharing with us -

9:50 AM  
Blogger Lucy said...

wow, your spinning is so even and fine... drat you! Beautiful wheel. Wish I could justify starting a collection...

1:18 PM  
Blogger cyndy said...

Oh my, that is a beautiful wheel-
I can see the bird's eye grain from here-
-and those sleek lines- wowza!

8:06 AM  
Blogger DeeAnn said...

Oh Vanessa that is soooo worth the wait! It's stunning and that woodgrain is Gorgeous! Your collection of wood beauty is dream worthy :)

Thanks for the tip on the insulation! I've been struggling with my Matchless and I will defintely try this. You can turn any bobbin into a lace bobbin. Sweet!

8:52 PM  
Blogger Romi said...

Wow! It's so gorgeous!

11:02 PM  
Blogger knitspot anne said...

wow. just . . .wow.

12:38 PM  
Blogger Manise said...

Congratulations on your new wheel! Love of all of ze various photo poses :-) The wood is beautiful.

10:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats on your new wheel and here's wishing you many happy hours of spinning joy.

Thanks for sharing the tip regarding the foam core to reduce take up.

2:19 PM  
Blogger Laurie said...

Don't forget to lace the yarn over the hooks from side to opposite side ala JMM.

7:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Georgeous wheel! 3 years! Hope it was worth the wait. I can't imagine waiting that long for a spinning wheel.

11:18 AM  

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