The Spooling - Part 3

[kerravonsen]

Feedback, more materials and additional tools have forged the next set of small-gauge knitting spools.

Spool 8

This one is based on the suggestion from jaxomsride, to use a metal comb.

* metal comb
* black hot-glue for metal

I used strong pliers to bend the comb, because it was quite stiff. I had to be careful, though, because the metal was hard temper, which means it was prone to snap if it was handled too much. I cut off one of the teeth so that the end would overlap, then glued it with black (for metal) hot glue, with my new glue-gun (one of these). I decided to add glue all around the bottom as decoration. I clipped off the top pointy bits of the teeth, then filed the ends (but not very well). Then bent out the tops of the pins.

The picture shows the style of comb I used, as well as the end result and a sample of knitting.



Turned out that gluing the ends was pointless, because the overlap was too small and it came un-glued; but it didn't matter because the whole thing was stiff enough to keep its shape even while I was using it. However, it really wasn't very nice to use. The pointy ends were still too pointy, and the "leaf" shape of the pins were really not suited for spool-knitting - it would have been better if they had been the same width all the way down. The unevenness of the pins meant that the stitches were either too small or too big, and that made it more difficult to knit with.

FAIL.


Spool 9

* Aluminium pipe
* Cotter pins
* black hot-glue for metal

While the spools made with craft sticks were fine, I realized I wanted something more sturdy, since the craft-stick spools were just a little wobbly. So I used a bit of scrap pipe I had, which was messed up at the ends - I'd hammered it wrongly - but it was still okay for this purpose. I used my un-bend-and-re-bend manipulation of cotter pins to make the pins as I had with previous spools. I also used one brass pin to be the "marker" pin. (I had bought some more pins, including some brass ones) The brass pin was thicker and harder to bend, but I managed it. Then I marked around the pipe with permanent black pen, with the marks measured by a representative pin. That gave space for nine pins. Then I glued the pins to the pipe with black hot-glue. Then glued over the top to cover the pins to make them more secure.



More sturdy, definitely! Unfortunately, I was so worried about making the pins stick out too short, that I made them stick out too long, I think. I mean, it's okay, but it would have been a bit easier to knit with if they had been shorter. Still, not bad.


Spool 10

* brass pipe
* Cotter pins
* black hot-glue for metal

This was like Spool #9, only with a smaller brass pipe. There was only room for seven pins on this one. This time I marked the pins themselves, at about half their length, so that I would align them to the top of the pipe using the mark, so they would hopefully be more even, and so that they wouldn't stick out too much. I also marked a line under the spacing-marks on the pipe, so that I wouldn't glue all the way to the top. This was so that there would be a little platform behind the pin to make purling easier. More black hot-glue, both underneath the pins and over them.



Yes! Yes! This one worked very well! Solid like #9, but the pins were more securely attached than with #9, because there was more of the pin that was glued to the pipe. Easy to knit with; though the purl-platform was a little too small to be helpful, it wasn't bad. Nice dense and close and small knit, just what I was looking for.

SUCCESS.


Spools Next To Each Other

Anticipating a request for spools-and-a-scale, here are the three of them next to rulers. At the top is Spool #8, at the bottom is Spool #9, and Spool #10 is in the middle.




Light-Tent

The photos were taken using my "new" light-tent, which was devised from household materials!

* White cloth pop-up washing basket (bought specifically for this purpose, but if it hadn't worked, I would simply have had an extra washing basket)
* Spotlight (yes, I had a spotlight lying around in my cupboards)
* oval trivet/place-mat thing
* white cloth

The basket was set up sideways on my side-board, with the spotlight sitting beside it. Initial tests were done just with the washing basket, but I realized it would be better to hide the side of the basket because it wasn't featureless, so I wrapped the cloth around the mat and put it there.



The picture shows the first test, taking pictures of a trivet I'd made. I think the light is a little yellowish, is there anything I can do about that?

---

Now I have to figure out what to do with the not-so-good spools that I don't want to use any more. Throw them out? They're too crappy to give away - the pins are too uneven, even with the best ones. But it feels wasteful to throw them out.

Comments

[fred_mouse]

very cool!

As someone who is practicing uncluttering, I suggest throwing out the failed spools, and allowing yourself to appreciate the good one(s).

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

You can get blue "Outdoor" bulbs quite easily.

[kerravonsen]

For a spotlight?

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

I'd have a second, outdoor light just beside it, to balance it out. Don't know what your fitting is (http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/catalogsearch/result/?q=cool+spotlight+globe&x=0&y=0) but that link seems to have a few possibles. THe search term is "cool spotlight globe".

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Those are seriously solid looking spools. I suppose you can keep the rejects to experiment on with tricky yarn - or even wire which you don't want to risk with the spools you are happy with.

[kerravonsen]

No, I think I'd want to use the best spools for things that are tricky, because the best spools are (a) easier to use, and (b) more robust.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Way back when the world was new, my father made me a 'spool', as did all father's with girl children, from a large wooden cotton reel and usually 6 long small headed nails. All cotton reels were made of wood back then and white and black cotton came on reels that were about twice as tall and half as much again wider than the coloured cottons. I must have made miles of 'French knitting' as we called it then but all I remember doing with it was making pot holders and coasters. What do you make with it?

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, but you can't get those wooden spools nowadays...

What do you make with it?

Jewellery. Beaded cords for necklaces, plain cords for hanging pendants from. One thing which is pushing my quest is that, while various tutorials blithely say "and you can also put beads inside the tube", I've found that when I try that, the beads simply fall out, because the gauge of my knitting spools is too large. Thus, trying to make a knitting spool with small gauge, which will also make a cord of sufficiently small diameter that it is suitable for necklaces.

Mind you, the size of Spool #10 is so small that I wouldn't be able to push large beads down into it while I was knitting, but I am hopeful that cords made with it would still be suitable for putting large beads into after the cord is made.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

More ooohhhhs!

[kerravonsen]

8-)