Somebody at the woodworking forum posted a video of his contraption that makes yarn balls. I've no idea why anyone needs to take a yarn roll and make a yarn ball but that's besides the point. It's a fun-looking little gadget.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx7cudgHYc4&feature=youtu.be[/yt]
Don't tell me about it. Just let me watch it spin. :lol: :popcorn:
This guy reminds me of my uncle: "Oh, hey, I can make one of those!"
Love that!
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
This is the one I've seen. It also explains why you cant knit from a hank.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUws9HULCEU[/yt]
Quote from: Bernadette on December 16, 2016, 09:49:44 PM
Don't tell me about it. Just let me watch it spin. :lol: :popcorn:
This guy reminds me of my uncle: "Oh, hey, I can make one of those!"
But Delrin on brass... it's very important information! I was waiting for him to make a ball but he stopped almost as soon as he got going on the winder.
There are lots of guys like that at the Indiana woodworking school I frequent. Most of them are retired professionals that have generous incomes and a lot of free time so they busy themselves making stuff.
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:36:50 AM
This is the one I've seen. It also explains why you cant knit from a hank.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUws9HULCEU[/yt]
So I watched the video so I could see a ball being formed and now I'm interested in those yarn spreaders or whatever they're called.
Quote from: Akavit on December 18, 2016, 12:13:06 AM
So I watched the video so I could see a ball being formed and now I'm interested in those yarn spreaders or whatever they're called.
Its a very cool but delicate contraption.
[q :seeya:uote author=Akavit link=topic=16343.msg356945#msg356945 date=1482041586]
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:36:50 AM
This is the one I've seen. It also explains why you cant knit from a hank.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUws9HULCEU[/yt]
So I watched the video so I could see a ball being formed and now I'm interested in those yarn spreaders or whatever they're called.
[/quote]
If you need someone to test a prototype for you :seeya: ;). I have a yarn ball winder, but not the swift. That winder in the video is beautiful! Working from a yarn cake (I've heard them called that, after they've been wound...a yarn cake. Sounds pretty nice to me!) is so much better than working from a skein or hank. It doesn't tangle as easily. And, having eveything uniformly shaped, even though varying in size, makes storage easier.
I remember seeing a blog post showing yarn hanks being put around the back of a chair, which I thought was pretty clever.
Quote from: Bernadette on December 18, 2016, 11:44:04 AM
I remember seeing a blog post showing yarn hanks being put around the back of a chair, which I thought was pretty clever.
Done that. I usually have one of the kids hold it for ms, though. :lol:
Quote from: MundaCorMeum on December 18, 2016, 07:08:27 AM
If you need someone to test a prototype for you :seeya: ;).
Not a chance that I'm going to step into that product line so sorry, no prototype. Now that I know the name I could find them online and it's a mature market where they sell for $39.99 everywhere. Competing with chair backs and unpaid children doesn't help either.
I did find some good pictures and figured out how they work. Ingenious but actually quite simple.
Seems like a cone would make for a superior swift. Quicker and easier to load it and far less fragile and prone to damage. The only advantage I can see to that collapsible design is that it folds up into a tiny package for easy storage and transportation.
Quote from: Akavit on December 18, 2016, 02:19:14 PM
Seems like a cone would make for a superior swift. Quicker and easier to load it and far less fragile and prone to damage. The only advantage I can see to that collapsible design is that it folds up into a tiny package for easy storage and transportation.
Akavit, you are a man of a vast array of interests. Really an interesting quality. Do you look at ever thing like a project to be improved upon or redesigned?
Quote from: Carleendiane on January 12, 2017, 08:23:27 PM
Akavit, you are a man of a vast array of interests. Really an interesting quality. Do you look at ever thing like a project to be improved upon or redesigned?
Correct. To my mind, everything is just an intermediate step to something superior. Anyone that visits my workshop on a regular basis will see this. Stuff moves, machines are bought or sold, junk is sorted and disposed of and everything keeps getting arranged in a more orderly manner. Though I may work 60-70 hours in a week, it's rare for me to spend more than 40 hours actually creating products. The rest of the time is spent improving workflow. It really kills my profits in the short term but long-term, it allows me to do a lot more work in a week than most woodworkers can do.
Today I spent 1 hour working on an order and 8 hours sorting through my finishing supplies.
Akavit.....I promise....I will NEVER, NEVER.....bring up that coffee table again. 60-70 hrs. a week. I don't know how you manage. That is a lot of time at work. Do you ever wish you were just an employee and not owner of this company? I mean you would get to work with wood, which you obviously love, but you would get to go home after you punch out.
Quote from: Carleendiane on January 14, 2017, 10:20:09 AM
60-70 hrs. a week. I don't know how you manage. That is a lot of time at work.
It's not all that difficult. Since I handle everything, that includes emails, phone calls, designing, traveling and fun stuff like shop improvements. Even if I work a 12 hour day, it's not all physical labor so it doesn't usually get fatiguing. I also do most internet and design work from home instead of going to the shop.
QuoteDo you ever wish you were just an employee and not owner of this company? I mean you would get to work with wood, which you obviously love, but you would get to go home after you punch out.
NOT A CHANCE! I did the employee thing for 10 years and enjoyed it very much. But having got a taste of being self-employed, it would be difficult for me to go back to employee status. This is especially true because in my previous job, I had a huge amount of autonomy in how I'd do the work once I'd been there for 5 years. So I'm used to calling the shots in the workplace and most jobs don't offer that benefit. Also, woodworking is pretty easy. Making it into a successful business is a much bigger challenge and that excites me.
One of my sticking points is that I've got different ideas on how a small, professional woodshop should operate and many small business owners would be afraid to take the risk to make it happen. If an owner is turning a profit, he's unlikely to want to change anything about the operation. If he's losing money, he'll usually try to work in a frenzy to shove projects out the door and collect payment. It's rare to find people who want to undertake a program of infrastructure changes because doing so usually means taking 10 steps backwards before advancing again. There are some rare owners that are like-minded and many are running highly successful companies. But now that I have a chance to take the helm myself, I'm going to take that chance and run with it.
There are easy directions for making a swift out of pvc pipe and a few joints and dowel rods. My dad made it for me and all the pieces come apart so it's easy to store. I don't have a ball winder though, I wind by hand.
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:32:35 AM
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
I have zero patience for tangled yarn! Poor hubby still doesn't have his winter hat because I was using hanks I picked up a thrift store and just couldn't handle it anymore!
Quote from: kayla_veronica on February 28, 2017, 09:40:35 PM
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:32:35 AM
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
I have zero patience for tangled yarn! Poor hubby still doesn't have his winter hat because I was using hanks I picked up a thrift store and just couldn't handle it anymore!
I actually like untangling tangled yarn. It's so satisfying. Like a puzzle, but useful!
Quote from: Bernadette on March 01, 2017, 12:02:12 AM
Quote from: kayla_veronica on February 28, 2017, 09:40:35 PM
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:32:35 AM
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
I have zero patience for tangled yarn! Poor hubby still doesn't have his winter hat because I was using hanks I picked up a thrift store and just couldn't handle it anymore!
I actually like untangling tangled yarn. It's so satisfying. Like a puzzle, but useful!
Good on ya! Takes heroic patience.
Quote from: kayla_veronica on March 01, 2017, 02:51:15 PM
Quote from: Bernadette on March 01, 2017, 12:02:12 AM
Quote from: kayla_veronica on February 28, 2017, 09:40:35 PM
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:32:35 AM
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
I have zero patience for tangled yarn! Poor hubby still doesn't have his winter hat because I was using hanks I picked up a thrift store and just couldn't handle it anymore!
I actually like untangling tangled yarn. It's so satisfying. Like a puzzle, but useful!
Good on ya! Takes heroic patience.
Not if you like it. :P
Quote from: Bernadette on March 01, 2017, 12:02:12 AM
Quote from: kayla_veronica on February 28, 2017, 09:40:35 PM
Quote from: verenaerin on December 17, 2016, 06:32:35 AM
All the yarn stores have one of those. My mother does as well.
Some yarn comes in hanks. Hanks of yarn are wound in a circle then twisted. You untwist and attach the yarn to this machine to make a ball. A ball of yarn is created to easily pull the yarn without knots occurring. If you did that with a hank of yarn, the whole thing would get tangled, resulting in tears of frustration and possibly fire.
I have zero patience for tangled yarn! Poor hubby still doesn't have his winter hat because I was using hanks I picked up a thrift store and just couldn't handle it anymore!
I actually like untangling tangled yarn. It's so satisfying. Like a puzzle, but useful!
I spent almost the entire Super Bowl occupying myself with a tangled ball of yarn (I mean, really, the Super Bowl....boring!). You and I could solve some serious life problems together, while untangling yarn ;)