As for me, BE AFRAID. I have a nostepinne ...and I don't know how to use it.
Well thanks to the lovely interweb and the power of youtube, I have worked it out. I should start by saying that a nostepinne is nothing more than a tapered stick with grooves in it, which is used to hand-wind centre-pull balls of yarn from skeins. Normally, my hand-wound balls of yarn turn out like perfect, solid spheres, where the yarn is used from around the outside. A nostepinne, theoretically, gives you balls that are shaped a bit more like 'cakes' where the yarn is pulled out from the hollow centre...
Anyway I am trialling it out on 600-odd yards of divine laceweight kid silk. The colour is called 'Ripe Cherries' and makes me drool. It will hopefully one day become a lacy stole of some form.
The skein was sold to me like this...
Skeins need to be wound into balls before you can knit with them, so I am using my lovely spinny swift to hold the skein while I wind...
And this is how far I have got so far with the winding (it's a nice job to do while watching tV)...
You have to start by building up a basic foundation pile of yarn at 90 degrees to the swift, and then you switch to winding at a 45 degree angle, turning the nostepinne every few seconds, which causes something clever to happen all by itself and creates a 'proper' ball. This youtube vid explains all... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xuc11P4Wi4
Of course there are electronic ball winders that will to do this task for you... but I have discovered that I really enjoy the mundane task of yarn winding - it is such a a stress reliever and the the different tactile sensations that you get from tweed Vs silk Vs cashmere is all part of the pleasure... 'tis nice.
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