Firstly, some better photos:
Hmmm, I was sure I had more than 2! Anyway, you can see the gorgeous colour better in these photos, and just how solid it looks. It is set-up for double drive right now - I did try it single, but I don't have a brilliant spring and to be honest, it was very slow at intake!
Even after I messed about with the tension it was too slow, but double drive seems very fast at times. I'm slowly getting used to it, the yarn I'm making is no longer overspun (and in some areas might even be underspun!) and not terribly thin (I'm currently spinning at around fingering weight with the thicker bits being dk), but all that will come with time and practice. The fibre goes down very quickly, it'll be interesting to see how much I've actually managed to spin out of 100g.
I chose very slippery fibre to start with (BFL & alpaca mix) so I'm going to see what it's like with some of the fleece I have from freecycle once I'm finished this - should be finished with the rest of the fibre on Thursday, then can learn how to ply at the weekend. I'll need to get Jitterbug to drill two holes into a bit of wood to make a lazy kate before I can ply properly.
I started carding some of the black fleece I got last week, and despite my original fears, not much of it is felted, but it is very hard to pull the locks apart. It cards up lovely and I can't wait to spin with it. I am also very glad I held out getting carders, as the large ones I got with the wheel are amazing - very solid and the steel brushes don't feel like they'll pull out if you hit a hard patch.
The wood is all in one piece which is something I've noticed with some of the cheaper ones I've seen - the handle is a separate piece which also provided me with some worrying moments that they'd fall apart during some particularly enthusiastic carding.
This weekend I'll be cleaning the wheel, might even take it apart completely and give it a good wax! Also need to make a wpi gauge!
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