For years I've been an avid spinner .... and I love, like really love (bordering on obsession) fiber arts tools. That being said I've tried nearly all the major spinning brands, and have landed on Kromski as one of my favorite wheel companies. Let's talk about why...
So, buying your first or 5th spinning wheel is truly a subjective experience. I can tell you all the reasons why I love or dislike a spinning wheel, but these are my experiences and my preferences which will likely differ from yours. Whenever possible, I recommend you try a wheel in-person, which is an experience I hope to be able to offer in the near future... stay tuned.
Now as for why I like Kromski wheels, I'm going to primarily speak about the Fantasia, Sonata, and Minstrel as these are the one's for which I'm the most familiar...
- Cost - Spinning wheels are expensive which can be daunting for a new spinner, I know it was for me. Enter the Fantasia wheel. This wheel has a great price point and is a wheel that you can use for years to come. It can grow with you, i.e. you can get faster whorls and additional accessories. It's super easy to use. And in my opinion, it's really quite stylish. It also comes well-equipped right out of the box.
- Ease of Use - My primary Kromski wheels are the Sonata, Fantasia, and Minstrel. I love these wheels. They just do their job with little fuss. However, you do need to oil some of the parts, especially on a brand new wheel. But hey, you get a bottle of oil with your wheel so no biggie...
- Appearance - These wheels are just pretty... at least in my opinion....And while not the most important aspect of buying a wheel it still should make you happy to look at it... especially when you're first starting out and making A LOT of unintentional "art yarn." Also, all of the wheels are available as unfinished, meaning if you're inclined, you can paint or stain your wheel as you like and give it your own unique flair.
- Portability - Spinning wheels take up room ... they just do. So if you need a wheel that you can easily pick up and move to different room when you're not using it then the Fantasia, Sonata, and Minstrel offer this. The Sonata being the most portable since it folds down into a backpack and can be stowed away in a closet or under a bed. The Minstrel also has a very cool optional wheeled bag that you can purchase that makes it incredibly easy to tote around if you want to bring your wheel with you.
- Additional Accessories - I love a wheel that "can do it all"... Let's say you want to try making art yarn but need a big bobbin and orifice... then you're in luck all of the wheels offer a jumbo flyer and bobbin option. My favorite for this being the Minstrel with the Great Jumbo Flyer set! The bobbin is MASSIVE... The Minstrel is definitely the wheel I'd recommend for art yarn spinners with Great Jumbo Flyer option. There are also additional fun things you can add to your wheel such as faster or slower whorls. And in my opinion, a must add accessory for the Sonata is the Magnetic Sonata Head. This gives you the option to get whorls that can go as slow as 4.4:1 to as fast as 22:1, making it probably the fastest portable spinning wheel on the market.
Now... after talking about all the good things... let's talk about some of the potential negatives...
- Oil - Like I previously mentioned, you need to oil your wheel, especially brand new wheels. It's not hard to do. The manual for each wheel will tell you exactly where to oil the wheel and it comes with the oil you need. If your wheel is ever hard to treadle then I suggest to start with oiling. This isn't necessarily a negative, most spinning wheels require the some oiling.
- Set-Up - The wheel will come mostly disassembled meaning you'll need to follow the included instructions to put it together when it arrives at your house. It's not hard to do, and each wheel comes with very good instructions with color photos. Again this isn't really a negative since almost every spinning wheel you buy new will likely require assembly on arrival. I actually feel it's a positive since it allows you to get to know the mechanics of your wheel as you're putting it together.
- Portability - Yes, I know I mentioned this as a reason I like these wheels... But I'm going to specifically discuss the Sonata here. First, this is my favorite folding wheel on the market because with the aforementioned Magnetic Sonata Head it gives the most options for whorl ratios and as someone who likes to spin fine the 22:1 ratio is pretty amazing. However, as this is a full sized wheel (19.5" diameter drive wheel) it's a little wide when carrying on your back not such a problem for the average sized person but could be more problematic if you're very petite. It does come with a very nice padded backpack which makes toting this around easier. Despite this I still think this is one of the best portable wheels on the market because you don't have to sacrifice spinning comfort or ratio options as you do with many of the others. This is probably the perfect wheel for the person living in a smaller space or can only have one wheel and wants something both portable but full size.
So these are just some of my musings about the Kromski spinning wheels. I owned these wheels before I decided to become a dealer and only decided to add these wheels because I like to use them. Feel free to send me a message if you have more questions.
