Thursday, June 9, 2011

A Spinner's Dream Fulfilled

It's been many months since I posted.  Not sure why I  didn't have much to say; but sometimes life is just like that. 

This past month, I was able to achieve a lifetime dream.  When I was a young mother living in a small town in Missouri, I had a desire to  learn how to spin.  But as with most young families, the price of a spinning wheel was out of the budget.  Throughout my life this dream was put aside from raising a family to establishing my career, it was always placed on the back burner.

Several years ago, I learned about drop spindles and I was finally in spinning heaven.  Even though the process was slow, I began to love the feel of the wooden spindle and fiber in my hands.  I saw the results of my spinning in the lovely yarn that I learned how to ply and later knit into gifts for friends and family.

Finally, on June 1st, my dream came true.  I purchased my lovely spinning wheel. 

The wheel is made by an entrepreneur in Cleveland, Texas by the name of Jerry Hillman and his company is called Bluebonnet Spinning Wheel Company.  I wanted to spend my money with an small company.  I read how the wheels were made from solid wood by an owner who had learned how to work with wood from his family.  A true artist.  I purchased my lovely wheel a model called the Bumblebee from this gentlemen.  All I can say, is that his customer service was exceptional.  He shipped the wheel carefully packaged with instructions on how to finish and assemble, answered any questions I had through email or personally on the phone.  It's very rare that you find this kind of customer service now days.

The minute that I knew that I was going to order this spinning wheel, I began to look for an appropriate name.  The name had to be some version of the word bee.  After all, Debra also means the bee.  So I started my search.  Much to my surprise, I found an Old English word that meant bee - Dumbledore.  How appropriate, one of my favorite characters out a series of books I adore - so my wheel became know as Dumbledore long before he arrived on my doorstep.

I remember my excitement the day the wheel arrived.  I couldn't wait to begin applying coats of wax to preserve the lovely grain of the wood.  I waited with anticipation until my next day off work to begin assembling my spinning wheel.  

It took me a few days to coordinate my feet, hands and head in the spinning process.  It's much like talking, walking, chewing bubblegum,  patting your head and rubbing your stomach all at the same time.  So after a few "bad" words loads of grumbling,  it finally came together.  I was sitting at the wheel concentrating so hard that I didn't even notice until my husband walked into the room and said "looks like your spinning".  Imagine my surprise.

So now that I have bent your ear about my new love, let me share a few photos.


http://www.bluebonnetwheels.com/