The greatest present I'll ever receive.

Ever since I started spinning on my drop spindle, I've lusted after spinning wheels. The allure, the spinning, the whirring; it was all magical. The thing about spinning wheels is that they are really expensive. They range anywhere from $200 to $1200 and I don't really have that amount of money budgeted for fun things. Alas, I figured I would never see the joy of this continuing obsession with yarn and fiber.

But then I had a Birthday (capitalized for emphasis).

My lovely mother suggested that I ask for a spinning wheel. I hemmed and hawwed about price and she calmly explained that it could be Birthday/Christmas present. This is about the time that I screamed in her face.

Luckily she was able to overcome burst eardrums and place an order for....

True love. That is what money will buy you folks. Don't listen to these people who say that money doesn't buy happiness. Because money bought my happiness. My lovely parents bought me the Bumblebee Patchwork Spinning Wheel. As you see from the above picture, some assembly was required.

This is where my prowess in being awesome comes in handy. First, I applied some mineral oil to the wood.

Oiled wood on the left, as is wood on the right

I really debated about if I should stain the wheel, or paint the wheel, or just let the natural beauty shine through (am I the only one who has that True Color song from Save the Last Dance in their head while thinking that?). Lately I've been mildly obsessed with naturally color yarn and so I went with the nakedish look. Plus, I'm a fan of nudism.

Step two was fairly simple. Put slot A in hole B and follow the directions (naturally it took me like 20 min to understand what to do). Then I simply had to attach it all with a screw. Luckily, I utilized free MANual labor... my boyfriend.

And VOILA!

sooooo pretty

What happens next is so good you have to wait for it.