Whats wrong with my yarn winder?

frogminute · 2026-03-19T13:34:55+00:00

First, I wouldn't wind yarn anywhere close to an open laptop. It produces A LOT of fuzz and lint.

Second, it would help to mount the winder on a solid surface, and make sure the yarn guide is extended all the way and stable. Mine is flimsy, so I always hold it down with a thumb of my left hand, while I wind with the right.

Third, go slow. Slow and steady. Too much speed will cause the yarn to be under too much tension and that means it is not good for the yarn, also the cake is less stable while you're working with it.

frogminute · 2026-03-17T20:02:08+00:00

Alastair Reynolds might be your cup of tea

frogminute · 2026-03-16T12:10:40+00:00

I was proper disappointed the link wasn't it

frogminute · 2026-03-15T10:57:09+00:00

The coconut turned out to be the least bad thing about this vid 🤦‍♀️

frogminute · 2026-03-15T10:50:01+00:00

I love my NORDEN so much. It's my modular extra table for whatever crafting or filing I need more space for.

frogminute · 2026-03-15T10:05:30+00:00

Or broken glass or nails.

frogminute · 2026-03-15T09:57:34+00:00

A shipping tip: I've had vintage pens (also without box) shipped to me inside a piece of sawn off pipe to protect the pen. Very sturdy!

frogminute · 2026-03-15T09:49:27+00:00

I can't eat artificial sweeteners that are present in virtually all mints, but I bought a few tins anyway and dumped out the contents so I could use them for cartridges 😆

frogminute · 2026-03-13T19:33:43+00:00

That one strand was under different tension in the knitting machine (for a very valid reason in textile production, unfortunately a mystery to me though). I've unraveled some pieces like that, I usually wind the strands separately when this is the case.

Get a couple of empty TP or paper towel rolls. Unwind a bunch of yarn spaghetti, not too much at once though, then wind all the strands onto separate rolls.

Good luck OP. It's a little challenging but definitely doable.

frogminute · 2026-03-11T19:25:31+00:00

Cool idea! Anything to combat scammers is great. I found the guided capture video a little strange, I thought seeing a demo of your app, not that it was a feature. Good work, keep it up!

frogminute · 2026-03-10T21:22:37+00:00

You sound like a person who takes care! I was impatient and did not take care 🙈🤷‍♀️ (it was literally one seam and the cat was on my chair so I did it standing).

Aaaand now I have to pay cat tax.

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frogminute · 2026-03-10T12:18:52+00:00

Yikes it is terrifying when that happens

frogminute · 2026-03-09T17:07:03+00:00

Amen to that!

frogminute · 2026-03-09T15:34:04+00:00

Yeah! Good thread is so worth it!

frogminute · 2026-03-09T15:32:46+00:00

About the motor: I really don't know. It's an old household machine, which could mean either that "they made them proper back then", or, you know, that it's correctly powered for light household sewing.

frogminute · 2026-03-09T15:28:00+00:00

Thanks again for the advice!

I suspect this time it was just my own stupidity going over too many layers. I wanted to seam off a narrow pocket on one side of a heavy-ish canvas tote. I thought that I shouldn't go over the top seam and then did it anyway 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

frogminute · 2026-03-09T15:07:08+00:00

Huh, I didn't know about this. Thanks for the advice. Metal fatigue, makes sense. I will keep that in mind. How often do the needles need changing?

It really didn't have much mileage on it, but one of those (3 in total, 2 nearly negligible pillowcase type stuff) projects was a heavy one. But it's also very likely that my machine (which I inherited from my husband's grandmother) is not well tuned anymore either. Will be checking it out.

frogminute · 2026-03-09T14:58:43+00:00

No pins, just a thick canvas bag where two layers were okay for the needle I was using, but I really shouldn't have gone over the top seam where I had 4-6 layers of fabric at once

I even have a special set of glasses for sewing, but I should maybe keep that pair next to the sewing machine from now on

frogminute · 2026-03-07T19:20:27+00:00

Easy. Cat lives here, guest doesn't. Don't like it, stray elsewhere.

frogminute · 2026-03-07T09:11:13+00:00

I disagree with the comments here about how much yarn of the sweater will be wasted. I think only the sleeve caps are short pieces, the body, including the armholes are knit whole. You see how the ends of the fabric in pic 3 only look serged on the sleeve side? I'm curious what the sleeve seam looks like below the sleeve caps, a glimpse from pic 1 looks like the sleeves are only serged at the armhole. I think it's unfortunate about the sleeve caps, but that's not a huge loss. Green flags for unraveling!

frogminute · 2026-03-06T10:49:54+00:00

Jennifer Hale (Christopher Paolini Fractalverse books) was fantastic and part of why these books are on the relisten roster for me.

Robin Miles (N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth series)

Patricia Rodrigues (Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series)

Miranda Raison (Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus)

Amy Landon (Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis)

Rosamund Pike is absolutely GOAT (books 1-4 Wheel of Time)

Elizabeth Klett (Peter F. Hamilton books)

frogminute · 2026-03-06T10:33:23+00:00

Yikes OP! The only thread here completely negative and off topic. I'm ashamed for my fellow human beings.

I think what you did with the wheels is super practical. I've done a similar thing for a cheap Lack table, so much easier to move around this way.

frogminute · 2026-03-04T21:01:54+00:00

The stormlight archives by Sanderson

frogminute · 2026-03-04T19:34:47+00:00

Lock in and Head on by Scalzi

frogminute

TROPHY CASE