I saw a different kind of yarn winder scrolling the marketplace, and ordered one. I was intrigued because instead of using a tilted core that spins off-axis, it uses a stationary core and an arm that oscillates. Unfortunately it makes very messy yarn cakes. Functional, but messy.

I tried several different ways of winding: forward, backward, without tension, with tension in different directions, but all the cakes were messy. Even the picture on the box had a messy yarn cake, so I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve a beautiful wrap with this device. But it could serve another purpose. I took it apart to see how it worked.

When I had it apart I played a little with the arm length and spent quite a bit of time turning the handle to watch how the parts worked together. The seed of an idea is in the back of my head to make my own yarn winder that I can use with a treadle instead of a handle.

When working with small metal parts, a magnetic watch band can be a useful accessory, if you remember that it is magnetic and will pick up tiny parts. I spent five minutes looking for the small black clip on the floor before I looked at my watch.