I got a(nother) spinning wheel!

So, after months of research, I finally settled on the Majacraft Rose. I ordered it from a local shop, and they told me that Majacraft would ship the wheel directly to me from New Zealand. (I'm going to have to curb my sudden love of all things New Zealand; I fear that if I force Dug to watch one more Flight of the Conchords video, he's going to inflict bodily harm upon himself and others.) Anyway, so, shipping from New Zealand takes awhile, and I hadn't received any shipping notices, so I just figured I'd see my wheel in a month or so.

Somehow, though, I wasn't surprised when the mailman brought me a little package yesterday afternoon!
(I think you can click on this photo and it will open in a bigger screen, so that you don't have to squint so much to look at all these fascinating spinning wheel parts.)

I spent the evening assembling and then briefly getting to know my wheel. It's so different and slightly more complex than my Kiwi, so the learning curve is more than I expected. There was a little troubleshooting as I had a few no-that-part-goes-HERE moments and discovered that I needed to break in the bobbins a little because they're very tight on the flyer at first and don't want to spin freely. I also discovered that you want to adjust the whorl position so the groove on the whorl and the groove on the wheel you are using are directly lined up with one another. Somehow all of that figuring-it-out stuff was really fun.

I only did a wee bit of spinning, just using leftover scraps of wool as I tested everything out. This wheel has Scotch tension, but it's quite different from my Kiwi. It's actually easier to use because it's quite precise and you can see exactly where it needs to be before you start spinning - a little too loose, the bobbin doesn't brake; a little too tight, the drive wheel doesn't turn. Not much guesswork there!

The treadling on the Rose is so smooth. Dug noticed that it's a little harder to get started than the Kiwi. I did, too, but then the inertia makes it easy to keep on treadling, and there's no position where it wants to "stick"; it's very easy to control the wheel with the treadles alone, versus needing to sometimes...wait...

Dug, what do you mean "it's a little harder to get started than the Kiwi?" HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? You have been treadling my Kiwi! HAAAAA! Busted!!!

I knew Dug would succumb to the spinning wheel someday. I mean, I don't think he's going to take it up, but I can't deny that I am delighted at the evidence that he thinks it's just a little bit cool.

Anyway, I imagine Dug will be taking more photos of the wheel-in-use tonight so that I can blather on about it some more. One thing I do need assistance with is a NAME. I don't want to call my wheel "The Rose" all the time; it needs a proper name. What should I call it?