Caution: Spinning Content

I received a WoolLee Winder for Christmas from my sister, and it is such an amazing product. It really speeds up your spinning - and I suppose it will help with consistancy, too, as I get used to it. It feels different than the flyer and bobbin that came with my wheel, and I have had to goof around alot with the Scotch tension to get everything to flow correctly.

The WoolLee Winder came with 2 bobbins, and I ordered a third so I would be able to do a two-ply without having to use the old flyer & bobbins at all. I will probably order at least one more, so I can do a three-ply or a cabled yarn.

So I spun 2 bobbins full of superwash merino singles, but when I started setting up to ply them onto my third bobbin, I discovered that these new bobbins don't fit on my lazy Kate! They are bigger than the Ashford double-drive bobbins - and hold a lot more fiber - but it's a bit of a problem. So I Googled "homemade lazy kate" and in a few seconds, had several good ideas about how to make a quick, tensioned kate. And a few minutes after that, I had this:

A shoebox, a pair of 14" aluminum knitting needles, and a piece of string, and you have a perfectly usable tensioned lazy kate. I love the internet.

And a little while later, I had this:

I am planning on using this for some more of those kool-aid dyed fingerless gloves - I haven't swatched yet, but I think this will look pretty nice.

And, by the way, what ever happened to that last bit of spinning you showed us several weeks (or was it months?) ago?

I was trying to make a 3-ply sock weight yarn. My 3-ply came out more like worsted- or even heavy worsted-weight. Ah well, I guess I just need more practice, right? It's still a nice yarn, it will be good for something. Maybe some really THICK socks.