People often ask me what spinning wheel they should buy. When I tell them I’m not the right person to ask, they push me to tell them how I bought my first wheel.

But, I did it all wrong. And, not just my first wheel; all of them.

My good friend, the Yarn Demon, had told me that the most beautiful, best spinning wheels were made by Rick Reeves. Not knowing anything at all, I did a few web searches and looked at his wheels. They were, indeed, very beautiful. But, I had just started knitting a few months earlier and didn’t think it was a good time for another hobby.

Unfortunately I started searching eBay for spinning wheels. One day, right after my birthday, I spotted a Reeves wheel that wasn’t all that expensive. It was the small saxony wheel–19″ diameter.

Oh, she was a love. She arrived the first week of June and I immediately sat down and had no clue what to do with her. I found a class nearby and jumped right in. Yes, three hours of class plus three hours of practice every night will make you a great spinner in only a month. I was addicted. She spun like a dream–the footman action was perfect heel-toe, her bearings ran smooth, and she needed very little tuning to keep her happy.

It only took a year for me to get the urge to buy another wheel. I inquired about a number of Reeves wheel I found for sale online and, after much thought and pulling of my hair, I decided to buy a Reeves Norwegian wheel.

She’s a very different looking spinning wheel, she’s also heavy, and persnickidy. I’ve decided she’s better to look at than spin on. I used to take her many places, but the movement of the van would make her “lose her tune” and I would take 30 minutes to get her spinning again when I arrived at my destination. The parts that hold up the wheel move and they seem to move whenever she gets moved. Then she slips her drive band or doesn’t take up.

She and I have agreed that she’ll stay home so I’m not caught saying four-letter words in front of small children.

A year after my acquisition of the Norwegian, I emailed a women I has spoken for during that search. I asked if the 30″ production wheel she had offered a year before happened to still be available. I was shocked to hear that it was.

And, that’s how the big wheel came into my life:

This wheel will always be my favorite. She’s right here beside me right now, in the middle of my living room. Up until this last summer she’s the one that travels with me everywhere. Yes, she’s big. Yes, she’s flashy. Yes, I can spin two ounces of 2-ply sport weight yarn on her in less than 2 hours. She’s only dangerous during football season. I get way too much twist in yarn during football games with her. She needs a slow, steady foot and will produce miles and miles of yarn that way.

Some people laugh that I haul this big girl with me when I spin in public. Actually, it’s usually my friend and partner in crime, PJ. It takes a minivan to haul this wheel and, when mine’s not available (or it’s PJ’s turn to drive), we have to reconfigure the seats in her minivan to get the wheel in. But she puts up with it as I promised to leave her my Norwegian wheel if I die first (note to self: this has now been said in public).

This same friend forwarded an email to me last spring about a spinning wheel on eBay. Yep, another eBay wheel. This time a small one. One that I’ve been craving for years and years. A Reeves frame wheel.

Now she’s the traveling wheel. The seller had inherited it from his grandmother. The wheel is probably 20 years old and was unsigned; perhaps because it was made before Rick started signing them. I got a good price because it was unsigned and the seller didn’t know (had no way to know) who had made it). I could tell from the flyer and all the beautiful little Rick Reeves’ touches that it was one of his.

So, I bought all these wheels sight unseen. I had pictures of them emailed to me (or saw them on eBay), but I did not touch or spin on any of them before I bought them. I do not recommend trying this yourself. But, it sure worked out for me!