I belong to enough spinning groups/forums that I see certain questions and concerns pop up frequently. Probably the most common question is "What wheel do you recommend for someone new to spinning?"
Most people will put in a plug for the wheel they have or that they learned on. Certain wheels are recommended frequently. It is a lot like cars: people have their loyalties to certain makes or models. There is some mild rivalry involved, sometimes snobbery. While most people will usually acknowledge that you have to find the wheel that is right for you, the recommendations are rarely impartial. Of course a lot of people will also recommend "test driving" a wheel if it all possible, which unfortunately, frequently it isn't. But that is another post for another day.
One of the concerns people asking for recommendation have is often that they don't want a wheel they will quickly "outgrow." This notion must come from the people who claim to have "outgrown" their first wheel. This term/usage really prickles for me so I'm going to unpack that here.
First off, I think there is an element of snobbery to it. If you "outgrow" a wheel, or a wheel is a "beginner" wheel then what does that say about someone who is spinning on that wheel? They are a beginner, they aren't very skilled, they aren't as good as you. That could be true, or that spinner could be very experienced and that wheel does what they want it to and they can use it very well and spin very well on it.
I think this idea also feeds into the myth that a wheel could ever be the ultimate wheel, and if you get that wheel you would never need another wheel ever. No one wheel can be everything though. A wheel can't be both a saxony style and a castle style, you have to make a choice between manual and electric, single or double treadle. Some wheels do offer multiple tension set-ups, but tensions system is also often another choice to make. Do you want to travel with your wheel or fold it up for storage? Some wheels are better at that than others, and my observation is that the wheels that travel best are also typically a little bit simpler.
But as for "outgrowing" a wheel, is that even possible? I don't think it is. I think what does happen is that sometimes spinners find they want to spin a way that is better achieved on a different wheel. At that point maybe they add another wheel if it is to expand their range of possibilities. In that case, if the spinner is still using their first wheel, they haven't outgrown so much as they've filled needs that the first wheel alone could not. The other scenario is that they sell the first wheel and buy a different one that suits their spinning better. In that case it is just refining what is a good match for that spinner. Often times this need has something to do with the ability to spin really fine yarns, which is where the snobbery comes back in. There is a certain thing in needle arts where fine, tiny work is "better." I bristle at that too. Fine, tiny detail work is almost always more time consuming and it requires a lot of skill to do. Does that automatically make it better than work done at a larger gauge? I don't think it does. I can put a lot more detail into a pair of colorwork mittens knit at a fine gauge. Do you know what pair of mittens I want when I have to go out in negative temperatures? It isn't the mittens knit with fingering weight yarn, I want mittens knit from thicker yarn. Some people love working at a fine gauge. I do not. I find it can be very hard on my hands. I could work on spinning as fine of yarn as possible, "frog hair," as they call it, but what is the point of that if I end up making a yarn that is finer than what I want to knit with? It will end up sitting in my stash. I certainly have a lot to learn and a lot of room to grow with my spinning, I've only been at it for less than three years. I reject the notion that to be an advanced spinner I should only be turning out lace weight yarn. I also reject the idea that any wheel I can't create such yarn on easily is a "beginner" wheel that will obviously be "outgrown."
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