Newest Acquisition

This is Cerridwen. She's my newest wheel, a Baynes castle style. As you can see, she's in pieces. I bought her unfinished, and Peru and I spent Saturday staining her a lovely cherry. This shows her in the bathtub drying.

Sunday, we put her together. One of the most amazing things about our marriage and relationship is that we always work together without bickering. I can't count the number of pieces of furniture that we've assembled, and despite Japanese directions, or pieces missing, or pages of instructions missing, we still manage to have fun doing it. This, of course, mostly consists of me reading the directions, finding tools, holding pieces, etc, while Peru does the real work. So here is Cerridwen, fully assembled.

And here is the side view. It's very different to spin on than my Gem. The ratios are different, the action is different. It took a bit of practice to get Cerridwen spinning well, but it's coming pretty quickly. There is a mysterious clacking noise from the treadle that I'm working on eliminating. I think she'll be a wonderful plying wheel; she spins much faster than the gem with far less treadling. I was worried about being able to control the spin forwards and back, but really had very little trouble at all. I'm pleased as can be with my new baby. I plan to do some serious decorating on her, stenciling some Celtic knotwork and such at some point. My biggest problem now is finding enough time to spin everything I want!