
Restoration Better Than New
Thaddeus has a friend who does antique restorations. He asked him to fix my broken niddy noddy and the restoration is better than new.
Master Craftsmanship- When Restoration Is Better Than New
A few years ago, my favorite niddy noddy broke.
For those of you who don’t spin, the niddy noddy is a tool to hand-wind yarn into a skein or a hank.

Surprisingly, the winding of a skein on a niddy noddy creates a lot of pressure on the cross-bars holding it. And when you slide the hank off the one cross-bar without a guard-knob, it puts even more pressure on that specific arm.
So much pressure, that mine broke a few years back. I had purchased it many years ago at Rhinebeck (I think), so it held up for a long time. A friend at the retreat broke it and felt awful. He replaced it with a different one that I didn’t like as much. The new one didn’t create as long of a skein, and it didn’t really look as nice (in my opinion).

So, Thaddeus thought he could glue my original niddy noddy and fix it. We tried gluing three times with different glues. But nothing held it. It always re-broke in the same place. He figured the only way it could be fixed correctly is to insert a dowel into both the center block and the broken arm. And he didn’t have the tools to do it. But he did ask a friend who does.

It is now fixed and probably better than new. I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Current Crochet
In addition to finishing the latest Crochet Thermal Stitch Beanie in a cotton/acrylic blend, I also started two more!






The aqua/blue one is Lana Grossa Meilenweit yarn (87% cotton / 13% polyester). A sock yarn using a G hook and 96 stitches after all increases.
The cream/brown one is 100% DK weight wool from Karin Kennedy, spun at Battenkill Fiber Mill. It’s DK weight done on an H hook and 72 stitches after increases.
Finally, the pink/red one is West Yorkshire Spinners Wool 75% / Nylon 25%. It’s fingering/sock weight using a G hook and 96 stitch after increases.
What a cool tool, have never seen one of those before. I agree with you about restoration. I just bought a Sunbeam 1955 toaster that was refurbished and it’s the best toaster I’ve ever owned.
The niddy noddy is a great tool…I can use my umbrella swift to make a hank/skein, but I prefer the niddy noddy (it gives me more control and creates a more evenly tensioned hank of yarn).
And if your toaster is a Sunbeam T20 (A or B) from the mid fifties, it’s a great toaster (once the cord has been replaced). I currently own 3 of them, although I only use one of them:
https://queerjoe.com/2012/04/22/854/