McTavish Spinning Wheels…..

Dawn is the shimmering of the horizon,
Dusk is a settling of the sky.
Deng Ming Tao

Almost 4 years ago, I shared this post with you, about my unique meeting up with
Tom Livernois of McTavish Spinning wheels.  Tom and I have maintained a friendship over the years as there is no doubt that he is a master with fine woods and I am a long time admirer of fine woods.  A wonderful marriage.

One of the discussions that Tom and I shared was about Magnus's big wheel.  Tom was taking time to learn all the ins and outs of making the smaller sister and wanted to bring his craft to a comfortable place before he took on attempting the big sister.  I completely understood that rational, but I had told him that when the day came that he was ready to make the bigger wheel, I would want one that would be the opposite sister to the one I have, which is birdseye maple with walnut accents.

2 years ago Tom contacted me and showed me a swoon worth piece of walnut that he had saved for my wheel, and of course I bit the bait.  I watched as he shared the production pictures with me in the very same way that I had with the little sister and was awe-struck.
There was a problem though…with 2 children in college, finances were very tight and all the while I watched this wheel grow, there was a gnawing in my stomach.
Ken was struggling with the college bills and when he needed to replace his car and I just couldn't justify spending this much money, while watching his stress level…..so……
I summoned up my strength and told Tom that it was just not to be, and he understood.
It was a heart breaking decision for me, but once I made it, I immediately felt a weight lifted and knew it was the right decision.

Fast forward a year and Tom contacted me again, with…can you believe it….another amazing piece of walnut and he asked me if I wanted to do this again.  He wouldn't be able to get to it until 2015, which would give me time to plan….so of course I said yes!

Now, we do not have 2 children in college right now, but we still have one and the loans from her older sister, so in order for me to have the bigger sister, I had to let go of the younger sister. 
While it was a hard decision for me to make as the maple wheel carries a lot of amazing karma in her story, my heart belongs to bigger wheels.  I just love them, so I was willing to put her in a wonderful home to bring this one here.

Here she is in all of her amazing glory!  Tom is a master craftsman and creates magic with the wood he uses for his spinning wheels.  She has been here for a week and has not left the side of my chair in the living room.  She is pure joy to spin….a very smooth ride.

You can see some of the wheels that he has made on his Ravelry here

Thank you Tom!!!!