A new wheel, a new friend

This blog has been quiet for a little while... Partly (among other things) because I've been too busy spinning to write anything. And the reason for that is that I am the proud new owner of a secondhand Haldane Orkney.

The Orkney is a compact little upright wheel made by the Haldane company in Scotland. Haldane don't make wheels anymore - they stopped in the late 1990s - but their wheels seem to have a good reputation.

I like that this wheel has some history behind it - I know that it's belonged to at least two other spinners before me. I can't find any good resources on dating the wheels, but it's possible this wheel is older than I am. Even so, it's in excellent nick - being supplied with 6 bobbins and all the necessary parts. The only thing I had to do to get the wheel spinning was find a bit of elastic for the scotch tension (even that wasn't strictly necessary, as I could have set it up double drive - but I am really enjoying spinning with scotch tension).
Besides the wheel itself, the seller also included a few bags of fiber and a set of hand cards in the sale. The hand cards are great - I'd only had a mini set of carders before, so it is a bit of a learning curve learning to use the full-size ones. But the rolags I make last for ages!

The two bags of fiber were a bag of raw mystery fleece, and some dyed merino top. I haven't gotten into the fleece yet, but I've gone through the top already between carding practice and wheel practice.
My first few bobbins of wheelspun weren't that great, but I'm getting better the more I use it. On the spindle I feel much more in control, while on the wheel I can make yarn, even if I don't know what kind of yarn it will turn out to be. But I'm sure that will come with time and practice...

~Joyuna