I recently purchased a new nøstepinne designed and turned by woodturner, Ed Pretty. The nøstepinne is both exquisite and thoughtfully designed. Here are a few answers to some questions you may have.
WHAT is a Nøstepinne? A nøstepinne is a tool used to wind yarn into a center-pull ball. Unlike winding a ball by hand, when used correctly, a nøstepinne does not add or remove any twist as you wind the ball.
WHY do I prefer a nøstepinne rather than a ball-winder? Using a nøstepinne allows me to control how tightly the ball is wound. When I wind a skein from my umbrella swift using a ball winder, my balls always end up too tightly wound, which stretches the yarn. I compensate when using a ball winder by taking the ball and rewinding it. With a nøstepinne, I don’t need to rewind the ball the second time.
HOW is the nøstepinne I purchased different from the one I replaced?
- There is a groove under the top finial that serves as the perfect spot to anchor my yarn before I start to wind.
- There were two choices of handle sizes, short or long. Being able to choose a handle that felt good in my hand was a bonus.
- My old nøstepinne was the same diameter from top to bottom. This nøstepinne is tapered; wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. This subtle feature helps me to slip the ball off the nøstepinne more easily AND, this is more important to me, I can use the wider end to wind my thicker yarns and the narrower end to wind my fine silk yarns.
WHERE can you find woodturner, Ed Pretty? Through the “Contact” tab on his website. https://edswoodturning.com
WHO might have purchased some of his other beautiful tools? Me! I will cover the top whorl spindle and the ring distaff in my next posts.
