Back at the end of June, I was contacted by the Edmonton Fibre Frolic asking if I would like to provide 3D printed cross arm (AKA Turkish) spindles for their first Fibre Soiree. I contributed to the Curated Spinner’s box.  This is the colourway I had to work with.

It’s an event going on as this post publishes.  So hello to all of the Fibre Soiree’s new spindlers/spinners!

On the tags I attached to the spindles, I said the following:

In case the image is too hard to read, here it is:

Wait! Before you throw out the extra bits with your spindle:

• • The handspun yarn attached to your spindle doubles as a leader to start your spin.

  • The straw is to stick through the arms of your new cross arm spindle to keep the stick safe when not in use. It also stops the yarn from blocking the hole. Slip the straw over the tip of your spindle stick and pull both through the arms, leaving the straw in place of the stick.

  • Use the elastic to secure the straw in place. This will ensure the straw stays in place.

Best of luck and welcome to the rabbit hole. 😊

These tips are also good for anyone wanting to carry their cross arm a little more safely. You’ll just have to provide your own straw, elastic and leader!

So, let’s take care of those images.

Here’s the leader that came with your spindle:

The yarn is about 1 yard long and tied in a loop.  That loop is wrapped 3 times then a half hitch attaches it to the card and another to the spindle.  These will both come undone and restore the yarn to a single loop.

Once you’ve done that, assemble your spindle, attach the leader to it, join your fibre to the leader and you can begin to spin.

The tube is a portion of a cardboard straw.  I use these to make my cross arm spindle more portable without having to remove the cop from the arms.  I can take the stick out ( give the top of the stick a series of light taps on the table if it’s too tight to just pull from the arms.  It may push in tighter with impact with the ground. This is normal for cross arm spindles), slide the straw in place and then I have the arms with their yarn still in place and the stick that I can carry separately.  This makes it far less likely than an assembled spindle with an in progress spin to end up with a broken arm or broken stick if the spindle gets banged around in a bag or such.

Note: 3d printed cross arm spindles are generally more resilient to drops, etc than wood ones but not indestructible.  I’ve not managed to break one yet even when I dropped it hard on the floor at Home Depot or outside on the pavement or as I was getting out of the car. (Yes, I’m a bit of a klutz.  You should see me with double pointed needles!)  Nor has anyone I know broken one.  I have heard second hand about one being broken but I haven’t been able to get specifics – so it IS possible.

Another thing that tends to happen if you just pull the stick and throw the arms in a bag or pocket, the yarn at the centre that was against the shaft collapses into the new void and blocks the hole, making it difficult to get the stick back in and possibly abrading the yarn in the process.  Installing the straw prevents these issues.

If you just let the straw sit there though, it WILL slide out of the spindle arms.  That’s where the elastic comes in.  It provides just enough friction to hold the straw in place.