My Majacraft's Mate

Welcome to the family little Pioneer. This latest Majacraft wheel, the Pioneer, is a terrific budget wheel that is truly a Majacraft in every way. You put it together in minutes, it spins beautifully and accepts nearly every Majacraft accessory. Mine came from a lovely woman in Australia. It has some wonderful modifications too! A built in handle with a storage slot when not in use. A heavier custom Suzie Pro flywheel, modified axle, and a slot for securing the upright/ flyer when not in use. The heavier flywheel and larger treadles make this Pioneer spin even better than my Suzie Pro Alpaca wheel. I am in love all over again. No more traveling with my Rose, she's staying put. I can now grab my little modded Pioneer and go. I'm so psyched!


Sorry for the crappy camera phone pic...


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Getting my weight on...

Sorry, haven't been posting like I used to. Its getting hard to keep up with all the sites, communities and forums that I post to on the regular. With Facebook and Twitter I don't really need to do much else - seems like every site worth its weight in cyber salt now works with both these social networks.

What have I been up to? Well, I'm still spinning and in fact, I've been trying to devise a way to get the "umph" back into my lace spinning. I call it the "mojo"... its the added inertia that my Alpaca spinning wheel had due to its heavier flywheel. My Rose wheel more than makes up for the loss of inertia in that it has higher ratios and spins smoother, plus its just a prettier wheel, IMHO and I love meditativeness (is that a word?) of watching the beautiful spoked wheel spin... On the downside, my feet miss the inertia - My Alpaca wheel was like driving a car that idles too high and always wants to take off on you. I don't want that "take off" feeling all the time, but sometimes I feel like a jet and sometimes I feel like a kite. Sometimes I feel like spinning on a riceburner and other times I feel like spinning on a Harley (motorcycle references). I'd love to have a choice of both. What can I say, I want it all.

Armed with all these jet/kite/motorcyle thoughts in my mind I set out to find a way to make my Rose wheel heavier. I still think the Buckyballs would work well, but I question how much weight they'd actually add. They're pricey too and I don't want to spend $55 for some magnetic beads only to find out I need to spend $100 just to come close to the weight I need. That's when it came to me... I had something at home that would be thin enough, heavy enough and that I could attach to my wheel easily. My weighted braid! Its commonly used to add weight to the bottom of curtains and draperies. I have a roll of it from my days of making dance flags (looong story). So I figured, what the hay? I might as well try it out. The result was exactly what I was hoping for - I got my mojo back! That little "umph" is back - I can feel the force of the wheel and the inertia that keeps it spinning a second or so longer than normal. It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference to me when I'm spinning lace. Now to find a better way to attach it to the wheel. Glue, staples...?

Cool site of the week - 3/23/09

Look at me, on time for a change! Yes, it does happen ocassionally :)

Today's cool site of the week is one that's near and dear to my heart. I've recently ordered a new Majacraft Rose spinning wheel and I'm sooooo anxious for its arrival. Majacrafts are excellent wheels - smooth, beautiful, long lasting and high quality. Their parts and accessories are pretty much interchangeble between most of their wheels and they are very flexible in terms of positioning. For example, you can choose to have the flyer set up for right or left handed spinning. You can angle the the orifice, raise or lower the head, use a delta orifice or a fine fiber orifice, change whorls and ratios and more. I fell in love with Majacraft wheels after I received my first Alpaca wheel back in January (I purchased used from a fellow Raveler). Unfortunately, that wheel arrived damaged and had to be replaced, this is how I came in contact with Tracy at Woolly Designs.

Ok, I know you're thinking - "what's so great about another spinning wheel dealer...?" Well, there's a lot that's great about Woolly Designs. Tracy and Jean are fabulous! Majacraft directed me to Tracy (their designated US repairer/dealer) for information on fixing my damaged wheel. Tracy however realized that the broken base would require a total replacement and that the new base would need to be shipped from New Zealand. He also advised me there was a chance the new base would not fit my wheel perfectly. He gave me all the pros and cons and left the decision up to me - no pressure. Once I realized the cost to replace would be about the same as the cost to repair, it was a no brainer, I was getting a new wheel!

Tracy created a very detailed document outlining the costs and risks involved in both replacement and repair options. I submitted the document to my carrier for my insurance claim and they accepted it and sent me a check for my new wheel. Since Woolly Designs prices their wheels based on the current rate of exchange of the New Zealand dollar, I saved over $250 on my new wheel! Yes, that's right... two hundred and fifty dollars. YES - you read correctly! Here's how it works...

Most dealers offer Majacraft wheels for the average suggested price of let's say, $850 for a Rose wheel. Woolly Designs looks at the rate of exchange based on the New Zealand dollar. At the time I purchased my wheel the exchange rate was about $2 NZ for every one US dollar. That made my $850 NZ wheel, about $425! Woolly charges about $100 shipping from NZ + plus a small profit for them and voila! I pay $596 for my Rose. That's a savings of $254! Yes, its true. Woolly Designs has basically chosen to make less of a profit on the sale of Majacraft wheels so they can pass the savings onto the buyer. You gotta love that! I used the extra cash to buy a High Speed Head and a Lace Kit. My new Rose wheel is on its way with accessories, for less than I paid for my Suzie Alpaca wheel. This is why Woolly Designs has earned today's cool site of the week award! http://www.woollydesigns.com/

If you're interested in a Majacraft wheel, please contact Woolly Designs. That is of course if you want excellent service, support and have a desire to save money :)

Showing off

Nothing much to say... just check out my work on my new wheel :) Yes, I am a show off!

Meet "Woman"

I've gone and done it. I've gotten a new wheel. Do I dislike my other wheel? No way! My Kromski Mazurka has and will always be my 1st and most memorable wheel. Its the wheel I cut my spinning teeth on and its strikingly handsome. However, my spinning skills have progressed at such a rapid pace that my Kromski just can't seem to keep up. The "Polish Princess" is perfect for quiet meditative spinning, but when I need spin up several bobbins of laceweight in a pinch for a project, I need something more powerful and flexible that's geared towards production spinning. Enter Majacraft's Suzie Alpaca wheel and a fabulous Woolee Winder.

I purchased a complete spinning bundle from a sweet woman on Ravelry. Ann had purchased the Alpaca wheel, Woolee Winder with extra bobbins, Skein Winder, Tensioned Kate and a custom carrying bag for the wheel - all in an attempt to take up a new spinning hobby. Unfortunately for Ann, the hobby didn't click with her. Fortunately for me, I was in the right thread on Rav at the right time and was able to grab the entire bundle for a good price.

I'm amazed at how much better I am at spinning fine yarn with this new wheel. I believe its a combination of the fast whorl (purchased separately) and the Woolee Winder (which allows me to just keep on drafting and spinning without changing hooks) at the root of my immediate success at creating laceweight yarn.

I've decided to name my new wheel "Woman". To me she embodies many of the great attributes of a strong and productive female.

- Strength. She's solid as a rock, yet easily bruised, but not broken.
- Dependability. She stands at the ready and is responsive to the touch.
- Hard Working. She's a workhorse who produces a fine yarn with little effort.
- Beauty. She's gorgeous to look at and wonderfully made. Born of Rimu wood from the heart of New Zealand, scultpured with fine lines, every curve and angle a testament to her greatness.

My spinning wheel collection now totalling 2, where old world charm meets modern day technology, is now complete. I've found what to me, is the best of both worlds.