Today’s theme is if something doesn’t work one way, try another. I started plying my alpaca singles with my upcycled spinning wheel.

The converted mini bike worked OK for the first two of three center pull balls, but the third was too much for the spindle supports (two holes through a ballister). So instead, I used the spindle as a supported spindle, used a serving spoon with the handle tucked under my leg as the spinning bowl, and was able to finish plying the third ball.

The spindle was too heavy to rest back on the upcycled wheel supports, so I looked around the house for something to hold the spindle while I transferred the yarn to a niddy noddy. I found that the wrought iron (or at least imitation wrought iron) legs of a side table were the perfect distance to hold the spindle shaft. So I flipped the table over and was able to wind on to the niddy noddy. The curves of the legs actually did a fantastic job of keeping the shaft from jumping all over.

Sometimes it is not what you can buy, but what you can repurpose.