How to Make Yarn Spindles
If you enjoy working with yarn for knitting or crochet, perhaps you have considered making your own. While purchasing a spinning wheel might not be in your budget, you can make your own drop spindle fairly easily. Making your own yarn spindle will help you start your new hobby of spinning your own yarn without breaking your budget.
Things You'll Need
- Wooden toy wheel
- Dowel rod
- Saw
- Glue
- Drill with 5/64 inch drill bit
- 1/4 inch cup hook
- Pencil sharpener
Instructions
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Make your own Yarn Spindle
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1
Find your supplies at a local craft store. You will need a wooden toy wheel that is approximately 2 to 3 inches in diameter. This will be the whorl portion of your spindle. Now you need a dowel rod with a circumference that allows it to fit snugly into the hole in the wheel.
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2
Measure a section of the rod that is approximately 10 to 12 inches long, depending on your preference, and cut the dowel rod. Insert one end into the wheel, leaving approximately 1.5 to 2 inches sticking out of the other side of the wheel. You may want to glue it in place at this point to secure it.
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3
Drill a hole in the top edge of your dowel rod (the longer end, not the end closest to the wheel) to add a hook to catch the yarn. Screw a 1/4 inch cup hook into this hole; you will thread your yarn through this catch when you work with your spindle later.
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4
Shape the bottom end using a pencil sharpener on the end of the dowel that is closest to the wheel. This will help your dowel have the proper shape if you want to balance it on a table when you work with it later. You should not sharpen it to a point, but you simply make a basic cone shape with it at that end. Your spindle is now ready to use.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also make a drop spindle using a circle of wood or a CD for the whorl.
