My Ashford Kiwi Arrived!!

My Kiwi arrived on Friday. As scheduled. Which is amazing, because things always seem to get delayed when arriving to me. My daughter and I immediately opened up the box and unpackaged all the pieces. The box was so much smaller than I thought it would be. My husband had the sealer in his car, so I had to wait until he got home to start sealing everything. While I waited, I sanded the parts that needed it and looked around for a way to hang the parts so I could finish them easier. After looking around for a while I discovered that my ironing board top is a metal grid!! I took off the cover and plopped that thing on my desk. (sorry for the messy art/play room in that picture) I then made some crude hangers with some wire that I had and hung up the pieces. All but 4 small pieces had holes through them. After he got home, I started to poly all the parts. I knew that I wanted to wheel to be teal, and after noticing the adorable Kiwi bird on the petal, I decided that he should be teal as well. My brother and sister in law came over so my hubby could put together their new computer that night. There were problems (some wire was to short... I don't know much about computers... but when I saw the soldering gun and duct tape, I knew we were going to be up for a while) Anyways... while they were doing that I got the second coat of poly on and gave it time to dry. By 12:30 in the morning they were still futzing with the computer. I was getting bored and tired. They all started telling me to put the wheel together. And, against my better judgment I started putting it together. I followed the directions exactly and really had no problems. I began spinning at around 1:30 and kept spinning in a sleepy daze until after 2 when I gave up and trogged up to bed... they were still working on the computer. I've been spinning almost non-stop since then. I'm completely in love with this wheel. I highly suggest it to anyone looking to get one. I've never spun on a wheel before. I've found this wheel to be smooth and so peaceful. Here's a peak at some of the yarns I've made and the progress of the wheel being finished.