Tools that I love....

Yep, it usually looks about like this when I'm working.

DH asked me this morning which of the spinning things that litter our home is my favorite. I had to think about that. Alot. Spinning wheels didn't count so that did narrow things down but not by much. I defined "favorite" by most useful and here's the list that I came up with:


1. Drum carders (Pat Green/ Fancy Kitty)It is so much easier to drum card than to hand card. My old hands just aren't up to much hand carding.

2. Reel winder (antique);
Like my hands, my shoulder doesn't work like it used to so a niddy noddy was tough. The old reel cost very little and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I just count the rotations because the weasel isn't reliable.

3. Spool rack (Leclerc);
All those bobbins have a home! The rack holds all of them with room for more. It is a dream to use for plying as a sort of kate and the bobbin winder attaches to the top.

4 Bobbin winder and styrene spools (Fiber Artists' Supply and Leclerc);
You really do get a better yarn if you wind a single off the bobbin and onto a spool before plying. These two sure do make the job faster.

5. Pat Green flicker brush;
Cleaning a drum carder is just one of those jobs where you gotta do it and it isn't any fun; this brush helps.

6. Umbrella swift (Stanwood);
Makes unwinding a skein a breeze; nothing tangles and so much easier than a chair back.

7. Ball winder (Royal);
Better than I can make and a whole lot tidier to use yarn prepared into a cake than something I wound into a ball.
  


These are the tools that I use all the time and would hate to live without. As I look at the list, I suppose the reason that they make the list is that they are labor savers.  I got along without each item in the list for a long time and accomplished the same tasks but having them around surely does make the job of getting yarn made a whole lot easier.