Pity Party is Over!
Okay, so not really, but I’m going to try to pretend that I do not have terrible, awful cabin fever and an itch to get the heck out of dodge. But, alas, I have 18 days, well really 19 days until I leave for my two weeks in Minnesota where it will also be hot but also humid, but I will have my own window AC unit and a bed to myself so I’ll get the best 2 weeks of sleep since last June when I was last there…
It’s time for pictures, isn’t it?
On the right is my third hank, which was previously picture on the bobbin earlier in the week. I finally took it off and set the twist. It still is slightly over twisted, but not as much as the previous two. This hank is 45 yds and 1.3 oz of fiber which once again is a wool blend with angelina from the Bountiful grab bag of multiple colors.
On the left is the medium grade wool blend. It is a 3 oz hank and 82 yds of 2-ply. It’s probably a heavy worsted on average. The yardage isn’t enough for a decent branching out so I’m open to project suggestions for it if anyone has some ideas…
This is my homemade $3 PVC Niddy Noddy in it’s 1.5 yd configuration. There are directions for making them in several spots on the net - try here or here.
Some notes:
- Some directions did not take into account the extra length caused by the T-connectors and wrapping around the 1/2 inch arms when saying what length center piece to cut.
- For a 1 m niddy noddy , I needed a 6 inch center piece.
- For a 1.5 m niddy noddy, I needed a 10.5 inch center piece.
- For a 2 m niddy noddy, I needed a 15 inch center piece.
- To some it up with an equation (sorry, being a meteorologist for so long has me liking concreate numerical formulas for things) - C/4 - 3 inches = L, where C is the final circumference of the hank you want to make and L is the length of the center portion of the niddy noddy. This equation is for 1/2 inch PVC pipe only and may vary slightly depending upon how tightly you seat the Ts onto the center sections.
- One of the best ways to remove the ugly printing on the pipe so you have a nice looking niddy noddy is to sand it off. They make a PVC pipe clearner, but it is expensive and smelly and quite likely somewhat caustic. Sand first with a medium fine sand paper and finish with some fine steel wool for a nice satin smooth finish.
- If you have a commercial clothing steamer and plan to use it on your yarn to set the twist, pre drill a 3/16 inch hole in the top of one of the T connectors and screw in a 7/8 inch cup hook into the top. Then you can hang the niddy noddy from your steamer’s mast and steam the yarn without burning yourself. Or, if you wet set wool on it you can hang it from a shower curtain hook in the bathroom etc.
- The caps make the niddy noddy look really nice, but are just thick enough to get in the way of removing the yarn. If you have the means to make a nice smooth and very straight cut, do so and look for plugs that go inside of the pipe instead of the caps that go on the oustide. In my case, we just cut with a hack saw and didn’t get the most straight of cups so the caps are the best option and I am able to easily remove one to make removing the yarn easier.
So, there you have it! Tomorrow I’ll announce the new contest…
