Giddy Biddy?

No no noooo! Niddy Noddy!

Until a few months ago, I'd never even heard of a niddy noddy, let alone knew what it was supposed to do. Thus, I obviously never would have thought I needed something I didn't know existed.

Recently I've sold several knitting books that I no longer use on eBay and now have a small stash of cash in Paypal waiting for some unsuspecting knitting object to catch my fancy. I was browsing the swifts when I happened upon some niddy noddies. They were very pretty and I even found one for under $15 with shipping. I instantly knew that this could be my alternative to winding my yarn around the overhang of my kitchen island to create skeins for hand-dyeing. But I wanted one now!

Through the magic of Google, I stumbled upon Doctor Dirt's instructions on how to make your own niddy noddy out of PVC pipe. Score! I had to do it! I bought a mini hacksaw at Walmart while L. was at occupational therapy and after dinner , went to Home Depot for the rest of my supplies. 10 feet of 1/2" PVC was only $1.29 so what the heck, I'll have extra. Two T-connectors totaled $.54 and my own contribution to the design - rubber chair leg tips - were $1.98. Whee!

I cut four 6" lengths and one 18" length of the pipe. The mini hacksaw worked great and the stuff cuts super easily. I connected them all to the T-connectors and voila! A little sandpaper to get rid of the printing and I was in business.

It was not difficult for me to figure out how to wind it, but I felt somewhat like an overgrown majorette while winding the yarn. One ball (223 yards) of Patons Classic Merino was on the contraption completely in 2 minutes (I took baton twirling lessons as a kid - muscle memory, baby!). Another couple minutes to tie it off and that was that! So much nicer than winding the yarn around my island!

The little rubber chair leg tips were my little flash of genius. The 7/8" size fit perfectly over the ends of the 1/2" PVC. When I'm ready to remove the yarn, I just remove one tip, slide the yarn off and it will fall off the other ends very easily. No snags, no yarn slipping while you're twirling around like a flag girl, and no difficulty getting it off in the end. Perfect! Another great thing about this PVC version is that it can be completely disassembled if you want or twisted so it will lay flat for storage. Yay!

I wound all six of my balls of Natural Mix last night during the Lost recap show and season premiere. I let my arm rest a few minutes between each because it is a little bit of work to coordinate all your movements just right. And, duh, I had to pay attention to the show?!?!?!?!

I bought another ball this morning just to be safe and wound it while my lunch heated in the microwave. Everything is soaking in the sink right now as I get ready for the Great Sweater's Worth Dye Experiment. Let's just hope it all fits in my canning pot!