Nøstepinne

[monophoto]

Here's a suggestion for those of you whose significant other is into knitting or some other yarn-based craft.

A nøstepinne is a tool used to wind yarn balls. The word translates from the Scandinavian as 'next stick', and is a simple turning - a 4" handle on the end of a 5" spindle (and the dimensions aren't critical). The spindle is about 1" at the handle end, and has a very slight taper so that it is easier to remove the completed yarn ball. It is important that the spindles be as smooth as possible so that there is nothing for the yarn to catch on.

I've been making a version with a yarn gage between the handle and the spindle. A yard gage is nothing more than a square-sided 'cove' that is exactly 1" wide. To use it, wind the yard into the gage without stretching, and then count the number of turns required to fill that 1" space to determine the yarn gage in threads-per-inch.

The nøstepinne on the yarn ball was made from maple, while the tool in the foreground was made from scraps of walnut and cherry. Both were sanded to 800 grit, polished with Dr. Kirk's Scratch Freee, and the finished with a home-made shellac/wax mixture.

There are a number of very good videos on YouTube on how to use a nøstepinne. Here are some links:

[FONT=&quot]http://[/FONT][FONT=&quot]www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNovkZdRl7M[/FONT]
How to Wind a ball of yarn on the nostepinne by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c) - YouTube
Nostepinne - YouTube
Using a Nostepinne - The Woolery | The Woolery

 

[hilltopper46]

These look very good. Your comments about sanding to where the yarn won't catch are very well taken.

My wife was asking me about making her one of these the other day. Don't some have a plate between the handle and the spindle?

Thanks for sharing. :0

 

[Fishinbo]

Great info, makes winding a yarn ball easy job using the tool with lots of practice of course. Another great way of using some wood scraps.

BandSaw Blades Online - Custom Welded Band Saw Blades

 

[holmqer]

Thanks for info on a turnable crafting gadget and great job on the ones you show off. Someday I should make a few.

 

[flyitfast]

The story behind these is interesting and yours look great. Neat.
I would think they could do double purpose and be made also as a double closed end pen. Just a thought.
gordon

 

[bigevilgrape]

THose look nice. Have you ever thought about tapering the yarn winding side? The ones I've used all had a slight taper to them so the yarn would slide off more easily.

 

[Tom T]

Very cool, one more nice thing to add to my turning list for next Chritmas.

 

[monophoto]

THose look nice. Have you ever thought about tapering the yarn winding side? The ones I've used all had a slight taper to them so the yarn would slide off more easily.

As noted in the original post, there is a very slight taper along the length of the spindle - roughly 1/8" over the 4-5 inch length.

The main thing is that the spindle cannot taper TOWARD the handle. If the finish is smooth, then no taper is really needed.

 

[bigevilgrape]

OOps I missed that in your description :embarrassed: Its not a tool I use often, I go for the speed of a mechanical winder unless I'm winding samples. I do love the yarn gauge in the middle.

 

[monophoto]

After I first made these last year, my wife sold several to friends in her knitting group. Recently, one of those friends asked her to have me make one that she could give as a give.

This time I chose to use concalvo alves for its pronounced grain, in combination with a cherry accent. I first turned the concalvo alves blank to a cylinder, and then thinned a section in the middle of the blank down to 1/2" diameter. After making marks on each side of the 1/2" section to help me line up the grain when I put everything back together, I cut the blank in half exactly through the middle of that section, leaving two blanks each with a 1/2" tenon on the end.

Then, I mounted a scrap of cherry in a chuck, turned it to form a cylinder, faced off the end, and then drilled a 1/2" hole most of the way through the blank. Then, I parted off a section 1 1/4" long. I made a jam chuck from another scrap of wood that had a 1/2" cylindrical tenon, and mounted the cherry cylinder on it to face off the freshly cut end.

Finally, I glued the concalvo alves blanks into the cherry section, making sure to line up the grain, and then turned the final piece between centers. I parted off the handle end (which was the headstock end of the turning) and sanded it smooth on a disc sander. The pointy end was the tailstock end of the turning, and I sanded it, leaving only a small divot in the end from the live center.

The piece was finished with a coat of shellac sanding sealer, sanded to 1000 grit and then burnished with a white Scotchbrite pad. A couple of coats of tung oil bumped up the color of the wood. After the oil had cured, I used Dr. Kirk's ScratchFreee to polish the surface, and the applied a protective coat of a DIY version of Shellawax.