DIY: Lazy Kate

To ply or not to ply? This is a common question for many hand spinners when creating yarn. Plying yarn, at the simplest level, is taking a minimum of 2 singles and spinning them together to create a more durable, textured, and balanced yarn. Many factors go into plying yarn, from the angles of the singles to the spinning speed.

One of the difficulties I had when plying was the tangling of the singles together. The more affluent hand spinner can purchase a tool called a Lazy Kate, which supports multiple bobbins and prevents tangling. The average price of a Lazy Kate ranges from $25.00 to $100.00. After examining the structure of various  Lazy Kates, I decided to try my hand at making my own out of supplies found around my apartment.

I only have one spindle loaded in this picture. 

Supplies:

1 cardboard box

4 circular cardboard cut outs

1 paper towel roll

Scrap cardboard

2 knitting needles (or any dowel-like objects)

Hot glue gun

Step 1: Prepare all cardboard pieces. Cut out 4 cardboard circles with a larger diameter than a paper towel roll. Make circular holes in the center of each circle.

Step 2: Cut paper towel roll in half.

Step 3: Cut out 4 cardboard rectangles with rectangular slits in the middle (they will need to be wide enough for your knitting needles - I will refer to these pieces as "cardboard windows").

Step 4: Glue a cardboard circle to each end of the two halves of the paper towel roll. This creates the bobbin.

Step 5: Glue the cardboard windows onto the side of the box. Two windows on each of the longest sides of the rectangular box. Make sure they are parallel.

Step 6: Place knitting needle through the bobbin, then insert ends of the needle through the 2 parallel cardboard windows.

VOILA! You now have a make-shift Lazy Kate for under $10.00.

Any questions? Send an e-mail to northerndelightsfiberart@gmail.com or leave a comment below!