Spinning Wheel Troubles and Updates

     This past Sunday I had moved my spinning wheel into my office. I was planning to snap some action shots of my wheel for the blog. Sadly however, when I looked at the base of my spinning wheel I noticed a crack in the wood. And then another crack. And then finally a third hairline crack. I was devastated. It wasn't something that would break or ruin my wheel. But it was the beginning of something I just didn't want to ever experience.

     Now, mind you I've had my Majacraft Pioneer spinning wheel since September 2010 and before that an Ashford Traveler since February 2009. I am no stranger to small fixes for the wood or the general maintenance of a wheel. But I've never had so many cracks in one spot, just appear out of nowhere. And then it hit me. Henry had been playing on my wheel last week and had knocked it over. Before that I had traveled with it. The mix of those two events plus the dry winter air in our home could all be the culprit.

     Either way. I had to fix it -- and it was simple. Lucky for me the weather was warm with a good breeze on Sunday. So I was able to take my wheel outside, give it a good scrubbing, sand it down, apply wood glue to the crack, let that dry, sand again and then polish it with some wax. And voila! My wheel is fixed and squeaky clean.

     After all that, I still couldn't spin on my wheel until Monday. So I didn't get to spin any punis or fiber into handspun over the weekend. But, that is okay. I ended up doing some basic "restocking" of the goodies for the shop packages. Like making these fun pom-poms and finishing the coupons for those that buy punis samplers. It was a productive weekend, just not quite as productive as I had hoped.

     This week there will be a mini-update on Wednesday and then a regular update on Friday. Since I like doing more than one update per week ( if I can manage it ) the official update schedule will be exactly like this weeks'! So every Wednesday there will be a mini-update and on Friday, a regular update. I feel this makes it easier for people to know when the updates are happening and have more options for what day they can look for new items in the shop. 

     Also, have you noticed some changes to the shop?! When Etsy & Virb announced a partnership for shop owners to create professional shop websites we jumped on it. My husband is very talented with this sort of thing ( it is basically what he does for a living ) and took over the design and implementation of the new website. And I just love it. He is doing a few tweaks here and there. But, overall I am pleased as punch with what Virb offers and what my husband has created. With that, we have a new web address www.gourmetstash.com and you can shop directly from it through etsy. I hope you all enjoy the new website and stop by for the updates this week. 

Take Care & Happy Spinning!

Kate