My New Wyatt Spinning Wheel

Back in the days before we were vendors at the Kid 'n Ewe show here in Texas, Peggy and her husband Mike went to see the show.  We were thinking of applying to be vendors and they went over to check it out.  They had a great time and in the process met Bill Wyatt.  He had a booth with several spinning wheels to try out.  Peggy fell in love with the Wyatt wheels.  She put her name on his list of interested customers and because they were so fabulous, she put my name on the list too.  That was 2008.

We ended up vending at the Kid 'n Ewe show (we still do!) and Bill Wyatt was back again to show off his wonderful wheels.  I got a chance to try the wheels and was so pleased that my name was already on his list!

I'm not sure how long the first people on Bill's list expected to have to wait for their wheels but by the time Peggy and I signed up the wait was measured in years.  Bill always built wheels one at a time and custom made them to whatever specifications the customer needed.  Then, unfortunately, Bill got sick and died and somehow his list disappeared.

I assumed my desire for a Wyatt wheel was going to have to depend on finding someone with a used wheel for sale. Enter Myles Jakubowski.  Myles was apprenticed to Mr. Wyatt and learned how to make Wyatt wheels the same way as Bill Wyatt did.  If you google "Wyatt spinning wheels" you will find the original Wyatt website with Myles' contact information.

Last November Myles had a booth at Kid 'n Ewe which is now held in Kerrville, TX.  I sat down and spun on each and every wheel he had with him.  Holy cow.  They are still just as amazingly wonderful as they were all those years ago.  Myles was working on a wheel made of birdseye maple if I was interested in that wood rather than the others he had to offer.  It meant getting the wheel more quickly.  Yes!  I love birdseye maple.  So I ended up having to wait only three months instead of who knows how long.  Myles lives out in Del Rio so we split the difference and met in San Antonio back in late February so I could pick up my wheel.

I was sure it would fit nicely into my car but it was much larger than I remembered.  We had to take it apart to get it in.  The wheel rode well and she arrived here at the studio in great shape.  I found putting her back together was easy and intuitive.  I won't be concerned about taking her apart again if needed.

So the wheel is here in my studio and we are getting to know each other.  She hasn't told me her name yet but I'm sure we will get around to it.