#niddy noddy

[milkweedman]

HI! I'm buying a niddy-noddy but can't figure out what size - I'm seeing tons of sizes but does it actually matter? I spin using a drop spindle if that affects it!

Yes and no. You can wind your yarn into a skein on any size niddy noddy (or as I'm sure you know, on the backs of chairs, on your arm, around a book, etc) and it'll work just fine.

As far as I've ever been aware, there's only two things to consider when picking a niddy noddy size: how big your skeins usually are, and whether you want to do math.

Skein Size

If you've ever tried to wind what you thought was a decent sized chunk of yarn around a very large object, you've probably noticed that you ended up with a very disproportionate skein--long and skinny. Or the opposite--if you've tried to wind a lot of yarn around a small object, you may have found that you couldn't even fold it in half to finish it off, because it was too thick.

Those are pretty extreme examples, but they're the reason it matters. If you tend to spin small skeins, a small niddy noddy will make them look better as a skein. If you tend to spin huge skeins, a big niddy noddy will ensure you don't have to wrestle with your yarn at the end.

One thing to note is that you can wind around only two arms instead of all 4, like so:

(Image Source)

... following the path of the red line rather than the blue yarn actually on it. This is what I do for miniskeins on my average sized niddy noddy. So you can get a proportional smaller skein out of a bigger niddy noddy, but you can't get a proportional bigger skein out of a smaller niddy noddy. Your only recourse then is to split it into multiple skeins (or find something bigger to wind it around, ig).

So, my 2 yard niddy noddy (and since yards and meters are close enough to not matter in this discussion, please mentally substitute meters if that's your unit of measurement) makes a good skein out of 4 ounces (110 grams) of yarn--that's pretty much the ideal size niddy noddy for that amount. If your skeins are more like 2 ounces/55grams, a 1 yard niddy noddy might be ideal for you. If they're more like 6 ounces/170 grams, a 3 yard niddy noddy would probably be great. There are of course lots of niddy noddys that are fractions or mixed numbers of yards as well, which brings me to the other consideration:

Math

Niddy noddys are a little more ergonomic to wrap yarn around than most things, but their real feature is eliminating math. On my 2 yard niddy noddy, if my skein has 100 strands, then it's 200 yards. I never need to do any math--it's just count the strands, multiply by two.

A 1 yard niddy noddy is even better there--no multiplying ! The number of strands you have is the number of yards you have. Easy as pie.

A 30 inch/76 cm niddy noddy, though--or any niddy noddy that is not 1, 2, or 3 yards (if you are in the US, or meters elsewhere--and it's important to not accidentally end up with a yard niddy noddy if you don't use yards, because then you have to convert your final number into meters--which is of course math) is Lots Of Math. If I've got 100 strands on a 30 inch niddy noddy, that's 3,000 inches, which is... idk man, I'm not even checking that. 100 strands on a 76 cm niddy noddy isn't so bad--7,600 cm is obviously 76 meters, but what about 129 yards, hm ? What then ?

If you're scoffing and saying you love math and this deprives you of beloved math, then you should definitely get a non-whole number niddy noddy, because that won't cause issues for you. And if you carry your phone everywhere and can't realistically conceive of a scenario in which the above would inconvenience you, that's fine too !

If, however, you don't want to look for your phone or do math in your head every time you finish a skein, a niddy noddy in whole numbers of either yards or meters (whichever measurement system you actually use, as I said earlier) will eliminate math from your skeining.

--

So, in terms of size you as a drop spindle user (unless you use it in a way that results in 4 ounce/110 grams skeins) would probably get the nicest looking and most balanced skeins from a 1 yard or meter niddy noddy. And in terms of math that's also the 'absolutely zero math' niddy noddy, so for most people that's ideal ! You'd also be fine on a 2 yard niddy noddy (as far as I can tell, these are the 'standard' size for wheel users*, who almost all have niddy noddys or some other tool for winding yarn) but your skeins will look perennially skinny, even if it's a pretty big skein for you. If you think you're gonna get a wheel soon, or you've been eyeing those plying spindles, then a 2 yard would give you some room for expanding, too. Anything bigger than that is really only useful for people who frequently spin big skeins--such as those whose jumbo flyer on their wheel is just their everyday flyer.

Hope this helps !

*edit: had forgotten about the antique wheels with small bobbins and/or only one bobbin. In that case the appearance of the skein is gonna benefit from a smaller niddy noddy, because it yields smaller skeins. But again... it's just aesthetic.

[disgruntled-lifeform]

I have to return the wheel, hand carders, and niddy noddy to the Guild tomorrow.

I'm now in a mad dash to find and purchase a pretty niddy noddy from a Canadian seller (preferably).

This one is sadly, from Greece and would cost soooo much in shipping but the mahogony is so lovely >.<

If anyone can point me towards some other functional art pieces, I'd really appreciate it ^_^

[calendae-creations]

I took a short video the other day of me winding off the first skein of plied alpaca yarn onto my niddy noddy. I realized as I was working that I've had both the wheel and the niddy noddy for over half my life at this point. Nearly 20 years!

Like my art? Want to see more, buy my textiles or jewelry, or commission something? Check out my ko-fi page and shop, or message me here on tumblr!

[cottonkhaleesi]

I always procrastinate hard when it comes to finishing the yarn, because it requires So Much Faff to keep all these buoyant wood niddy noddys fully underwater. And then I inevitably leave them in there for hours because I Forget (tm)

Update: it has indeed been more than a few hours (all of a sudden I looked up and went, where has the sun gone??) but the yarn has joined its brethren from yesterday in the hanging after the drowning and thwacking.

[theoriginalladya]

Tour de Fleece 2023 - Day 18

Spent the day plying the red yarn with my new Lazy Kate (it works like a DREAM!). Wound up with 745 feet or roughly 250 yards of yarn. Going to leave it on the Niddy Noddy overnight before I soak it (maybe two nights since I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and may feel like crap afterward). Pretty much ran out of room on the spindle while plying, so I may try to ply the indigo with the e-spinner tomorrow and see how that goes.

[rival-the-rose]

Man I have gone thru every emotion with this project but it finally has ended happily!!

This is 2 oz of the 4 that I got at Black Sheep this year, first spin on my new (to me - she's 35 years old!) Schacht Matchless wheel. I really had a hell of a time with this fiber - it was very well prepared but with my health problems I had a really hard time keeping it consistent. It's overspun and under spun, overplied and under plied, slubby thru some of the silk portions and suddenly way thinner thru the purple. Which is why I was shocked that it was perfectly balanced when I took it off the noddy. I'm thrilled bc I was giving up hope on it being suitable for the intended project - I think it'll make a beautiful warp! I was intending to have the other half be the weft and make a fun weird plaid but seeing it in the skein I think that will be too busy and I'll use plain black alpaca instead. It's 282 yards so it'll have to be a pretty big shawl but that's hardly a problem! I'm just so relieved that it's actually balanced.

[sleepycatmama]

This yarn had been sitting on bobbins for ages. I got around to chain plying it. Now that I have a niddy-noddy again and a nice wpi tool, I took it off. 18 wpi at both ends. If I'm doing the niddy-noddy math correctly, 189 yards.

Number of wraps * 2 * 1.5 yards (medium Ashford niddy-noddy I believe is for a 60" skein) 63 * 2 * 1.5 = 189

Any spinners who are in practice with this, please correct me if I'm wrong.

[awayforanera]

I hear the siren (spinning wheel) call and the water (spinning more yarn when I have gifts that need made) looks very tempting

[springweaver]

Okay, spinning update: I am still at war with my wheel. Something is not working. Until I figure that out I've moved on to a drop spindle, and I love it.

Anyways, this is my first yarn!

It’s some undyed alpaca wool and I got around 350m out of it :)

[professorpski]

Niddy Noddy: Yarn to Skein, Balls to Skein

This is one of those gadgets which makes dealing with yarn so much easier for the artisan. Spinners use it into turn yarn coming off a wheel into a skein, and yarn dyers use it to take a ball of yarn and turn it into a skein too. Of course, this is a very old tool, and there are mechanized versions to do all of this, but part of the pleasure here is the simplicity and the effectiveness.

You hold the central bar and then wrap the yarn around the two other pieces which have bumps at their ends (save one end for sliding the skein off). You can see the ball of yarn in a dark green yarn bowl on the floor just below my right hand which is bringing the yarn around from one bar to the other. The left then hand then tips up and down over and over to make the looping easier.

The repetitive motion is where the names comes from as its original use in the 1600s came from someone nodding off to sleep, which turned into a word for a foolish person as well in the 1700s, and finally the name of the the gadget in the late 19th century. All this according to the Oxford English Dictionary which traces the use of words over time.  This niddy noddy breaks down into 3 pieces and is one of the larger ones. I got it used and I like to think someone else got some use and pleasure out of it before I did, just as I enjoy knowing I am using a word of such ancient origins. You can find pretty and more utilitarian ones at your fiber supplier.

[icterid-rubus]

My first attempt at a fractal spin. I chose a horrible braid to use for it, but I found the colors so ugly to begin with that I decided I wouldn’t care if it came out terribly. I would try fractal spinning again though, with a more suitable braid.

[milkweedman]

TDF days 13 and 14

Finished the second bobbin last night, plied it just now. I think I might spin the other colors I've dyed as a break, or maybe switch to something else for a bit--I like this yarn, I've just learned that when my tdf project is something inherently slow it is not very enjoyable for me.

[potsherd]

finished plying my first yarn :-) ..3 months after i started plying it fhdkjfk

[fchsadfa]

When you need a niddy noddy so you make one out of tinkertoys

[cottonkhaleesi]

Well uh, turns out I can’t visualise sizing when ordering on the internet and the niddy noddy I bought is a mini noddy….

Did turn out to be just enough for the leftover two ply though, so small mercies.

[guardevoir]

Did not get around to plying it because it was going on midnight and my birds were screaming at me to go the fuck to bed and let them sleep, but! The actual spinning part is done!

(honorable mentions to the 2 singles of purple sparkle merino in the back; two weeks ago I was firmly convinced I'd get the other two singles done over the weekend. Lol. Lmao, even.)

I'll ply and wet-finish as much of it as I can tomorrow; ideally all of it. And after that I'll hopefully finally get the purple sparkle shit done. At least another single of it.