Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Is it a wind-up? (No, it's a Nostepinne!)

Do you remember the yarn winder which was jinxed by my nemesis yarn? Well it was replaced a little while ago, but in the interim I neglected to mention here that I'd repurposed a toilet roll inner to transform some skeins into centre-pull balls. It worked well enough, but was not exactly an ideal (or longterm) solution. After hearing about my escapades with the toilet roll, a friend kindly pointed me in the direction of some nostepinnes on Folksy. I had never seen or heard of them before and headed to YouTube to see one in action - this vidoe shows how the simple wooden tool is used to wind yarn into a neat ball....
Of course once I saw them, had to try one.  Mine came from Stewart at Tree Gems (excellent service and fast delivery) for a little over £10 and I love it. There's something very satisfying about winding the yarn by hand before using it, and so the nosty is still used for mini-skeins and chunky yarn, or if there is no particular hurry to cast on,  even though I have a new mechanical winder. What do you use? 

7 comments:

  1. I use either toilet roll tube or my thumb but I pinned a new Pintrest pin yesterday on using a knitting needle or crochet hook. I need to rewind balls all the time for socks so I can draw from the outside and centre and tips are VERY welcome.
    xxxx

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  2. I keep meaning to get myself a winder of some description, but I actually kinda like the meditative rhythm of draping the yarn over my knees and winding by hand ;)

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  3. I have a swift and ball winder. I like the idea of a nostepinne though, for some mini skeins or very chunky (low yardage) yarn.

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  4. i've never had the chance to try any fancy equipment, but like pinkundine i'm very happy using just a knee/bent leg and my thumb :) nostepinne looks very useful, i'll have to ask my mother if maybe she has some old ones lying around somewhere...

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  5. My gosh what a handy tool! I used my hand, having learned from a Youtube video.

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  6. I have a swift and a nostpinne. Mechanical ball winders are out of my prince range and seem to be unnecessary when the job can be done by hand. I love winding by hand as it gives me an idea of what the yarn will feel like being worked up.

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  7. Thanks, Sarah, for talking about my nostepinne. I'm so pleased that you've enjoyed using it. Your mentioning it also resulted in another sale!

    I noticed your Stephen West shawl; my wife (Rav Cottonon) just finished one of his shawl patterns.

    ReplyDelete

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