It’s Here – The Bliss Spinning Wheel

Back in May, I took a “Learn to Spin” class at the local yarn store, Tempe Yarn and Fiber. I treadled away for a few hours and began to dream about my next wheel. From a few candid interviews with other spinners, I learned – you can never have just one wheel! Up to this point, I had been using a few different drop spindles and tried reviving a traditional wheel from the early 1900s, but that thing has seen better days.

Naturally, I wanted the one I used in the class. An Ashford Joy. Simple, compact, and portable. I thought about all the places I could take my wheel – to the beach (ha! sand everywhere), to the park, to the local coffee shop. I could spin anywhere! Then, I saw how much it was. Yikes, I’m going to have to save up. The thing I’ve learned about spinning wheels, they are basically the same price regardless of where you purchase it. With the bag (of course you need a bag), I’d be in about $850.

Then I stumbled upon the Bliss spinning wheel. Beautiful and modern, unlike any wheel I’d seen before. Plus, it was in my price range! Converted to American Dollars, I’d be all in (including 3 additional bobbins and shipping for….$372! I was jumping for JOY!

The next big decision was single treadle (one foot) or double (both feet in opposite movements). The Ashford Joy I had learned on was a double treadle and I felt pretty comfortable with it. What I kept finding though, was the more seasoned spinners preferred and recommended the single treadle. It made sense when I talked to them about it. With a double, you have to sit in a chair, facing the wheel straight on. With a single, you can shift around, even sit on a couch if you want, and just go about your day spinning away. I sit in a chair for work all day, so the more comfortable I can be when I get home, the better.

Alright, order placed! Thank you Paypal.

And…it’s backordered.

So I waited.

And waited.

I watched a YouTube video with a review on the Bliss Spinning wheel (It’s in German so I couldn’t understand her, but she seemed happy when she talked about it).

I even read the blog about how the Bliss is made.

And found an episode on CraftDaily (UK’s first and only instructional TV programme) that talked about the wheel – Episode 9, about half way through, if you are interested.

Stalked their Facebook for updates.

And waited some more.

7 weeks later…I got an email the item has shipped! Hallelujah!!!

It was a holiday weekend and the package had to go through customs. I must have logged into the tracking page every 10 minutes for six days straight, but finally, my package arrived! A quick hop over to the post office and I picked my new favorite item up. The Post Office employee asked me what had arrived as I danced about when he brought the package from the back and I told him my spinning wheel. He said, “Oh, really! I just learned to crochet a few months ago!” We had a nice, (but quick) conversation and I ran home to put the wheel together.