Sunday, May 6, 2007

The Dream Skeinwinder

I am building a new skeinwinder. I have a wonderful one that my husband built that is adjustable and I crank manually. It is great for skeining off a cone or ball of yarn. I am now faced with making 375 skeins for the Earthues Dye Project! When I was purchasing the dye and talking with Cathy, she mentioned I could reserve some time with their skeinwinder which winds six skeins at once. I was very tempted by this generous offer but got to thinking how handy it would be to have one of my own. I also wanted to motorize it. As I love to tinker, build, and take things apart, I thought this would be a fun little project.
I found an older $7 sewing machine at Goodwill that had an external motor mounted on it. I took it home and completely took it apart. I had a lot of fun doing that. I have saved all the little bits and pieces in a box to play with like a metal Tinkertoy or Lego set. Most importantly, I have a motor with a pedal control. I decided to make the skeinwinder itself out of PVC pipe. Working with PVC is also a lot like working with Tinkertoys.
It is just about finished and I will see if my Dream Skeinwinder will become a reality. If not, I do have my manual one and I can just get cranking. When the winder is finished and working I will post a picture of it.
What are some of the creative solutions for your fiber-art needs that you have come up with?
Destructively and creatively yours, -Renee

1 comment:

Priscilla said...

Hi Renee, would you be willing to post a picture of your manual skein winder, and maybe a little info as to how it was made? I'm trying to figure out the best and least expensive way to make my own! Thank you :) -Priscilla