These days, my Lazy Kate is a piece of 3/4" inch plywood about 10" square with about 60-1/4" holes drilled 1/2" deep every inch or so; and, a bag of 24 pieces of 1/4" dowel. The pieces of dowel fit in the holes, and my bobbins will fit on the dowels. Soon, it will have some rubber feet on it, but for now, it sits on some packing foam.
If I am making 2-ply from high twist singles, I put 2 dowels in the board to hold the bobbins and a line of dowels that the singles can be threaded through and which form an ad hoc tension box. For this use, a couple of dollars worth of dowel work as well as a $500 AVL tension box - and are lighter and easier to haul around. If you are working with fines, you will want to sand and finish your dowels.
If I am making 4-ply from balanced 2-ply, I put on two dowels to hold bobbins and a dowel or two to act as guides. Note that in this configuration, it will hold big bobbins.
If I am making 5-ply from high twist singles, then there are 5 dowels to hold bobbins, 5 dowels to act as yarn guides, and a line of 4 or 5 or even 6 dowels to act as a tension box. This Lazy Kate is outstanding for such yarns.
If I am making 10-ply from balanced 2-ply there are 5 dowels to hold the bobbins and 5 dowels to act as yarn guides.
If I am making 10-ply Aran from high twist singles, there are 10 dowels to hold bobbins, 10 dowels to act as yarn guides, and a line of 4 or 5 dowels to act as a tension box. Easy Peasy.
If I am making 20-ply Aran from balanced 2-ply, there are 10 dowels to hold bobbins, 10 dowels to act as yarn guides, and 3 dowels to act as a tension box. With this setup, 20-ply cable is trivial. Yesterday, it took me less than half an hour to ply up 20 yards of 20-ply Aran including winding the bobbins, plying, blocking, and winding into a small cake. That is faster than going to the yarn store.
The setup will hold any bobbin with a 1/4" or larger axle.
The Mark II version will measure length of yarn spooled off - which is the real purpose of this tool. There will be pix when the whole thing works.
If I am making 2-ply from high twist singles, I put 2 dowels in the board to hold the bobbins and a line of dowels that the singles can be threaded through and which form an ad hoc tension box. For this use, a couple of dollars worth of dowel work as well as a $500 AVL tension box - and are lighter and easier to haul around. If you are working with fines, you will want to sand and finish your dowels.
If I am making 4-ply from balanced 2-ply, I put on two dowels to hold bobbins and a dowel or two to act as guides. Note that in this configuration, it will hold big bobbins.
If I am making 5-ply from high twist singles, then there are 5 dowels to hold bobbins, 5 dowels to act as yarn guides, and a line of 4 or 5 or even 6 dowels to act as a tension box. This Lazy Kate is outstanding for such yarns.
If I am making 10-ply from balanced 2-ply there are 5 dowels to hold the bobbins and 5 dowels to act as yarn guides.
If I am making 10-ply Aran from high twist singles, there are 10 dowels to hold bobbins, 10 dowels to act as yarn guides, and a line of 4 or 5 dowels to act as a tension box. Easy Peasy.
If I am making 20-ply Aran from balanced 2-ply, there are 10 dowels to hold bobbins, 10 dowels to act as yarn guides, and 3 dowels to act as a tension box. With this setup, 20-ply cable is trivial. Yesterday, it took me less than half an hour to ply up 20 yards of 20-ply Aran including winding the bobbins, plying, blocking, and winding into a small cake. That is faster than going to the yarn store.
The setup will hold any bobbin with a 1/4" or larger axle.
The Mark II version will measure length of yarn spooled off - which is the real purpose of this tool. There will be pix when the whole thing works.
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