Side Note

Nearly four years ago, I was still a relatively new knitter. I'd been knitting for just over a year, and I had moved out of my parents house and gone off to college. By all accounts, college was pretty cool, but the thing I miss most about it, is the LYS that was an easy 2 mile walk from where I lived. I was introduced to spinning in that LYS. Spinning on a drop spindle. And while I fell in love instantly I knew that the drop spindle was not for me. I knew that I was destined for other, larger, spinning tools. I simply didn't have the time or the money for such a large indulgence.  Since then I've graduated, joined the Navy, and gone to school all over again. I promised myself as a graduation present from A-school, I would finally buy that wheel.

Now, don't get too excited. I haven't actually graduated yet. But my graduation is a mere 3 months away, so I've already started to plan. Reading books, watching videos, joining Ravelry groups. And I discovered something. In these last four years, my tastes have changed.

I always thought that when I did eventually buy a wheel, it would be the Ashford Traveler.

Aesthetics are deeply important to me, and I find the castle-style wheels to be the most attractive. Ashford is a deeply respected name, and of course, it falls into the nice $500 price range.

But in my recent research, I have found that while a majority of knitters learned on, or owned a traveler at one point, they all eventually upgraded to other wheels. I'm not currently looking to own multiple wheels, I just want one. So I started looking into the slightly more expensive wheels.

One big priority I have now is that my wheel needs to be portable, and so out of all of the wheels out there, the very very new schacht sidekick is starting to call out to me

The downside is that it's new, so there aren't a lot of people who have one yet, or people who have serious complaints about it. But it seems to have everything I want. Stability, quality, and portability.  The only real complaints I've heard about it come from knitters who own 5 or 6 different wheels, and these knitters tend to be very nit-picky about very small things. As a complete beginner, I know that I'll probably imprint on whichever wheel I learn on and love it completely. This wheel is nice because if I ever want to upgrade, the Schacht Matchless is completely compatible with it, so I wouldn't have to buy all knew bobbins and stuff.  Sure, the Sidekick is more expensive, but I've been knitting for a long time now and I'm confident that I'll be spinning even longer. They say that the Schacht wheels are like the sports cars of the spinning world. 

I think I can live with that.