A fun new friend came to live at my house!
She arrived in this over sized box.
My new Schacht Ladybug Spinning Wheel! I impatiently pulled her out of the box in parts and got to work putting her together.
In the process, I ran across my own sweet little ladybug mascot perched on the side. After a few false starts, I hammered out the basics and spun some lumpy singles. I was amazed at how quickly I could spin compared to my spindles. In just a couple of spinning sessions, I had a bobbin full!
I also got the attached lazy kate, so I’m able to slide the full bobbins onto the front of the wheel and ply from there, which is pretty doggone convenient.
Disclaimer: I am a completely self-taught spinner. If photo’s show me doing it wrong, go easy on me.
A bobbin of handspun: 
And here’s my first wheel spun skein on the niddy noddy: 
225 yards of 13 – 17 wpi, (DK-ish), yarn.
I have so much to learn. And to me – learning, experimenting, and trying new things is the very best part.
You will love your LadyBug so much!! I’ve had mine 5 months now and she’s like an old friend to me. Happy spinning ♥
I have lots to learn, but am already gaining some skills. Yay for spinning! 🙂
Awesome! I can’t wait to get mine someday soon, but until then I will live vicariously through you. Thanks for showing us your new addition! Love the yarn too.
I really held off thinking I would be satisfied with spindles, but now that I have her, don’t know how I got along without her! 🙂
so pretty! I don’t know how to spin but I’d love to learn. I don’t have space in my dorm room though -_-
Something to look forward to, Haley. 🙂
You are in for tons of fun! I purchased a used Ladybug a little over a year ago at a fiber festival (after your wonderful blog started me spindle spinning). It took me a bit of trial and error and a number of spinning sessions before I got the wheel adjusted correctly. Once I did, drafting was much easier and I kept saying “This is so fast!” The more I learn, the more I realize I have SO MUCH more to learn. I found that I like spinning with a modified woolen draw more than worsted because it’s easier on my hands. I’m enjoying a number of Interweave spinning videos to help improve my skills. I’ve also taken a couple on the Craftsy.com platform. My favorite spinning podcast is spindoctorpodcast.com. I recommend listening to all the episodes from the beginning. Warning: you will learn a lot and find out about lots of fiber and spinning tools that you’ll probably want to buy. Have fun with your new friend!
Thanks for sharing those tips, Tammie. I’m going to download Spindoctor podcast! Wheee!
YAY!! Does it come with instructions that a newb could follow? I’ve not ever used a wheel and have been thinking about starting a fund for one, but we don’t have anywhere here that I could take classes (at least not that’s reasonably close to me).
It has easy instructions to put it together, but required a bit of investigation online to figure out how to make it go. I had it going within an hour though. If I can do it, I’m sure you could too. 🙂
Congratulations! I have a ladybug too and love it dearly. Have you named yours yet? Your yarn looks marvelous! Hope you have lots of time to play with it!