Cheapskate lazy Kate

So I'm plying yarn, but after Friday's 4 1/2 hour plying extravaganza I did not want to do it halfassed or ... well, totally wrong ... again. (How do you do it wrong? All you have to do is assume a center pull ball will work ok for your singles if it is very very thin. Think sorting out a tangled jewelry box full of necklaces and angry scorpions after it has gone for a ride on the Gravitron. That's wrong.)

I don't have a Lazy Kate yet, but I admire the elegant simplicity of that tool. So I made myself a CheapsKate.

One dowel, a cardboard box, and two short lengths of PVC to act as spools made a dandy one. Mind you, it is untensioned and requires a lot of hands-on, but not the infinite suffering of Friday's marathon.

Witness the power of this fully operational CheapsKate.


'Course, it can be even simpler. While looking for a real Kate to link, I found a picture taken by someone even smarter: