The Ashford Traveller was my very first spinning wheel.

I chose it because Ashford is a well known, reliable brand so advice and any maintainence help would be easy to come by. I also liked the fact that I could get it as a double treadle wheel and therefore be able to look after my posture. That was all at least 15 years ago and I have spun many miles of yarn on it since then, including the yarn I used to weave some of my beautiful scarves. It was my only wheel for a long time but now I have a couple of others for specific purposes.

My trusty Traveller spinning wheel.

Ratios

The Traveller is a versatile wheel that can cope with producing a variety of yarns. Of course the diameter of the yarn is limited by the size of the orifice but a jumbo flier is available though I have not got one for mine. The standard flier has three ratios, I measured mine to 5:1, 9:1 and 11.5:1. This means that a low ratio with slightly higher tension, a thicker yarn with less twist is easy to spin. The highest ratio with low tension gives lots of twist for laceweight yarn before feeding it onto the bobbin. It also means you don’t have to treadle like a demon to spin fine yarn. You can slow your feet down and let the ratio work for you. I have tied a little tag with the ratios written on it to the wheel, so I don’t forget what they are.

The ratio tag on my Ashford Traveller wheel

Design

I really like the fact that the Ashford Traveller wheel comes with a built in lazy kate. Wheels are expensive, so not having to buy a separate kate is a bonus. It also means that your bobbins can always be close at hand. It is indicative of a thoughtful design process that I appreciate very much. Another reason that I chose this wheel was the fact that it is what is known as a castle wheel. The design is more upright than the traditional spinning wheels. This means that it has a much smaller footprint and can fit in a small room without dominating the space which was an important consideration before the advent of my Spinnery and when my twins were toddling about and had toys everywhere.

My Ashford Traveller spinning wheel has given me years of trouble free spinning enjoyment. I oil it occasionally to keep everything moving smoothly and I have been lucky enough to have it serviced by Alan from Wingham Wool Works once or twice. It is not temperamental in any way and I would thoroughly recommend it as a brilliant first wheel. I bought it from Wingham Wool Works in Yorkshire, they are always my first port of call for equipment and supplies.

Which ever wheel you decide to go ahead and buy, you are going to need some lovely fibre to spin.

I will be reviewing my other wheels in later blog posts so do check back if you are interested in spinning wheels.