the dropped spindle

natalie · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:45 am Post subject: How do you measure yardage?

There is probably a very obvious answer to this.
More and more I am seeing the yardage as well as the weight on commercial yarns.
Most handspun seems to have yardage, but how do you measure this?
Is it a guesstimate based on number of twirls on the niddy noddy, or is there a gizmo to do it?
Do customers want to know yardage or are they happy with a weight?

natalie
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cledry yarner · Joined: 29 Jun 2006 Posts: 176

I use the niddy noddy Smile

natalie · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject:

So if I use the niddy noddy to wind off the bobbin, and then tie the hank and wash it, won't it shrink a bit in the drying? Do I need to re-niddynoddy it to get a measurement?
I'm assuming here that most hanks are washed before they are sold, would that be right?
natalie
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cledry yarner · Joined: 29 Jun 2006 Posts: 176

hmmm - tricky one. My hanks are usually dyed so I re-wind them anyway to get the colourways looking nice. I don't know about hanks that are going to stay the same colour Confused

Sally might know - she's clever Very Happy

spinningsue · Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 56 Location: Worcestershire

I usually re-wind my skeins when they are almost dry to bring the still damp bits out into the air. Mind you, there's no reasoning or theory behind this other than it seems to make sense to me! I then count the wraps and work out the yardage/meterage. With a calculator. Maths is not my strong point!
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sally · Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 148

I'd agree with the niddy noddy, I often wash whole bobbins worth, then reskein into smaller hanks if its going for sale, so its easy enough to count off the yardage if you need to. I tend to sell by weight though, so its not something I've worried about much, though I can see how its good practice to add it to the lable.

wellington womble · Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 58

Very new here, and not a clue about most things (nothing new there then!) but one of the spinners I buy off on ebay refers to a Mcmorran balance, which allows her to estimate yardage. I don't know how it might work though.

more info here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAP...agename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Here ends the (fairly inadequate) response to the only question I expect to be able to answer for about ten years!

It's all Sally's fault, she sold me a drop spinde!

natalie · Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:41 am Post subject:

Oh you've GOT one, would you like some fleece to play with?
The interweave sit in the useful sites bit has good instructions.

n
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DianeM · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 12 Location: London, UK

I think it's easiest to measure the length of the skein (after it's dry) and then count the number of threads in the skein and multiply.

It is useful to know yardage, especially if you have a specific project in mind.

ClaireUK · Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 94 Location: Coventry, UK

If you are using a swift you could measure the circumference of the swift setting eg. 36" and multiply it that way.

Claire UK