# large spools



## jeepers06 (Dec 13, 2011)

I want to build my wife a yarn station for her knitting. I need some rather large spools…probably 10 inches long with maybe 4 inch ends. Anyone have an idea where I could purchase some of these close to this size? 
I don't turn, but have an idea how to make them, would wrather just buy them for my project.
thanks


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

How 'bout an "Arts and Craps" shop, Like Michaels or Hobby Lobby?


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## jeepers06 (Dec 13, 2011)

They don't have any near this size


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

I'm a knitter and am curious, what will these spools be used for? Most knitters will not wind their yarn onto spools before using it. Is she going to tension a skein across two of them, like on a squirrel cage swift? If so, you could make some hollow spools using two round flat pieces and around six dowels for each one. you can see a photo of a squirrel cage swift here (there are many varieties) and they also sell spare spools for $20, though they are 5" not 10".

http://www.yarnbarn.com/grid.asp?partNoLike=KA-KWK

If this project is a surprise for your wife rather than a requested project, and you need a knitter to bounce ideas/plans off of, please feel free to ask me.


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## jeepers06 (Dec 13, 2011)

thanks Elizabeth. It was to be a surprise. My thoughts were to make something for knitting from 2 different balls of yarn at once. I have done more research. I assume the ball over a spool is to limit twist. I think I could make a verticle swift on one side with a ball winder and a place on the other side for 2 or 3 balls from the winder to be mounted so one could knit from both?


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Trying to put a ball of yarn on a single spool would be really difficult, and unrolling it to roll it back onto the spool would be inefficient. I need to give you some terminology before I proceed, on different ways of storing/using yarn.

A skein is what you see in the store - it looks like a ball of yarn, maybe an oval shape. It's actually wound so that you can knit straight from either the outside OR the inside strand of the skein. It's also possible (but very difficult and annoying) to knit from both strands at once. You'd have to stop a lot to deal with twisting, though. These are skeins: http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2010/11/10/2842534/YarnSkeins.jpg

A cake is a flattish circular lump of yarn that comes off of a ball winder. Again, you can knit from the inside or the outside. Many knitters prefer to knit from cakes if they have a winder, but the yarn in a cake is kept slightly tensioned so it's not a good long term storage method. Here's a cake of yarn: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Yarn_cake.JPG

A hank is a long loop of yarn. Some yarn bought from small sellers will come in hanks, or if you have a swift (not a squirrel cage swift) you can create a hank from a skein or a cake. Here's a hank open: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Opened_yarn_hank.JPG and closed: http://static.flickr.com/34/94934367_7c4b83de49_b.jpg A hank is hard to knit from directly UNLESS you have a squirrel cage swift. You can knit from a hank using a regular swift (vertical or horizontal) but it takes up a lot of space. This is a swift: http://c-cactusflower.com/mcart/images/yarn%20swift.jpg

If your wife does not normally buy or create hanks (or express interest in doing so), then she doesn't need a swift. If she wants to make hanks, a squirrel cage swift won't work, but a regular or vertical one will. If she wants to knit FROM hanks (as I often do), a squirrel cage swift is fantastic and compact, but will mean her knitting won't be portable until she finishes using the hank, as her project will literally be tied to it!

If your wife normally knits from skeins or cakes, you might try incorporating a couple of yarn bowls. They look kind of like this: www.etsy.com/listing/111224202/ceramic-heart-yarn-bowl but there are a lot of different styles. Basically it's a bowl with a little looping bit cut out of it to hook the strand of yarn through. The skein or cake might bounce around in the bowl a bit as it unrolls but will stay put.

When working with more than one yarn, some knitters prefer to have each strand coming from opposite sides to help not get tangled. So you might make one of the bowls removable so she has that option. Just make sure to give it a heavy base so it won't move around on its own when disconnected.

I hope this isn't too confusing! Let me know if you have any questions.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Ah, also you could make something like the yarn holders on this site - I haven't used one myself but came across the page when looking for swift pictures. These holders are holding skeins; in the photo with three holders in it, the left one is a spool (less common in knitting), middle is a skein and right is a cake.

http://c-cactusflower.com/mcart/index.cgi?code=3&cat=6


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Elizabeth, Does this apply to crochet too? All I have ever seen my wife do is crochet out of a skein or pull the yarn out and wind it up in balls. She makes awesome multi color afghans and has 20 balls of yarn in the works at times.

Funny little side note. One time she was unfolding one to show the women at work. They were oohing and awing as she unfolded it. When she turned it around so they could see the front, they totally flipped out ;-))


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Yup, all this would apply to crochet too. Crochet is more likely to have lots of different colours worked one at a time in the same project, as you've seen your wife do, rather than actively using two colours at the same time. Probably less likely to use yarn in hank form, unless it came that way because it was dyed or spun by an independent artist, and probably switches colours quite often rather than making a whole project out of just one piece of yarn. (This is an oversimplification, of course, you can make anything with either knitting or crochet, but crochet tends to be used for multicomponant things like toys or blanket squares, and knitting for clothing and large one-piece blankets.)


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

She has made a lot of afghans, both full sized and baby. She always uses store bought yarn.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Well, if you are ever in the market for a nice project for her, I would suggest some kind of portable storage case with a row of yarn bowls or rotating yarn holders on the top, and a cubby inside for storing the other colours she doesn't need at that moment. Just make sure it's stable enough that it won't tip over as the yarn is tugged out of the bowls or off of the holders.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I'll remember that if she gets back into it. She has moved on, so to speak and hasn't crocheted for a couple 3 years or more. has been sewing and has a fancy embroidery machine. She has been making blankets lately. Now everyone in the family and extended family has one. We'll see what is next? Maybe back to crocheting, eh? ;-))


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

I remember seeing these in antique shops and saying what the heck is that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niddy_noddy


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Haha, yup! I have three in various sizes. Useful for spinners in particular.


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