Sunday, February 26, 2012

Bobbin Winder

I spin on a little spinning bobbin, and then I suck the spun yarn off  (technical term meaning wind off  : ) with a bobbin winder that is a bobbin stuck on a tapered dowel that is chucked into a cordless electric drill.  It is fast and it works.

At Stitches, somebody wanted a bobbin winder to wind off (Suck yarn off of) her little wheel.  I told her my solution and she said, "But I do not have a tapered dowel !"  So I went home and turned her a nice tapered dowel.

 However, This morning at the Chinese market a chopstick would work.  And they do!




Here I show use of wooden takeout chopsticks, but the cheap plastic re-usable are even better.

2 comments:

  1. =Tamar3:42 PM

    I'll have to try that; I don't spin but I've been wondering how to wind modern thread onto an antique wooden spool, just because I like it and want some thread on it. Is there a technique to getting it to wind evenly?

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  2. Not too fast (e.g.,a 500rpm cordless works better than a 3,600 rpm power drill.)

    Lead the thread back and forth across the bobbin - one hand on the trigger and one hand on the thread or feed the thread through a guide and move the drill back and forth in front of the thread guide.

    I think knitters should spin. It teaches you about yarn, so that you can be a better yarn consumer. If the mills know that you can just spin your own, they will be motivated to produce better yarns.

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