Mother of Invention

Well, it's been a productive morning for me. Being the impatient, OC crafter that I am, I woke up this morning with the urge to figure out how to ply the two full bobbins of singles without owning a lazy Kate.

Answer: Google it! A quick search brought up this ingenious invention. A quick trip to the studio rapidly provided all the parts necessary to fashion my own home-made, tensioned Lazy Kate.

As a result, I was able to start plying at 6:30 a.m. and by 9:30 I had plied both bobbins.

Of course, it was not without a few snafus and kerfaffles. I did manage to reverse the wheel at one point, and by the time I noticed, I had a snarled tangle of singles, doubling back on themselves in a Gordion knot of epic proportions. Not being willing to sacrifice all the work I'd put in by just cutting the knot out in Alexandrian fashion, I spent a good hour just restoring order to the recalcitrant mess. I also managed to break one of the singles at least 2 times, requiring a some splicing. It's not pretty but I'm satisfied with my first hank of yarn. Experience has taught me that time and practice always improves quality and that I need only to remain patient and seek a little expert training and I'll be spinning like a pro in no time.

Here is my morning's work wound on another home-made device of mine. A simple niddy noddy made of pvc and 2 T fittings. I ended up with about 225 yards of beginner 2 ply.

I think this yarn should work very well in some fulled mittens or slippers, don't you?