spinning wheels

For the past several months I’ve been renting an Ashford Traditional spinning wheel from my guild. It’s the only wheel they have to rent out and given that most of the other guild members can afford their own fiber arts equipment, there hasn’t been any competition for it. Now, I don’t have my own wheel so I’m glad to have use of this wheel, but damn if I don’t get frustrated with it. I wouldn’t say it’s been mistreated, but probably not properly cared for: it’s a bit rickety, the maidens are wobbly, it’s difficult to adjust the tension high enough to use the smallest whorl, etc. And on top of that it has the typical Ashford problem of drinking oil like there’s no tomorrow. I’m used to it enough now that I can jury-rig it into usefulness, but it’s not easy to spin on. Someday, someday I will have my own wheel. A decent one.