I saw the instructions for this
on the internet and figured I'd give
it a try. I wasn't about to buy a 'French
Knitting Spool" so I made one with some
spare parts (a PVC fitting, some chop
sticks and some twine). I read that the
braid (knit) could be done with two or
more posts along the spool, so I started
with 3, it worked easily so I added more
pegs to end up with six. At that point
I glued the pegs in place so the knitting
spool stays together for a while. This
process could be useful occasionally
|
The website I saw this on used
the braid 9knit) to wrap key
rings and straps
|
|
I used a PVC fitting (coupler)
and a few chop sticks and lashed
them to the fitting to make the
knitting spool. I started with
three to see what that braid
looked like
|
|
I just snipped the chopsticks
in half, then used the side of
the grinding wheel to round them
off
|
|
I used 5 sticks which is about
the most for this size pipe and
550 cord. it was getting a little
tight
|
|
Using three sticks to do a three
sided braid
|
|
There are plenty of tutorials
on how to do this, so I won't
recreate them here. But this
size spool worked well for me
in one hand. I used one of my
awls instead of a knitting needle
|
|
Once pulled off the spool you
can see the symmetrical three
sided braid the spool produces
|
|
a few more shots of the three
sided braid
|
|
I decided to pull it apart to
do the four fingered knitting
spool. The first one started
to fall apart. So I tied the
second version much tighter and
used neater lashings/ This proved
to work better and they stayed
tight after a few uses
|
|
Once the first set of lashings
are in place the second set is
easier to tie
|
|
A few more shots of the four
fingered knitting spool
|
|
Still plenty of room for four
strands of 550 cord
|
|
Pulled from the four peg spool
|
|
The four sided braid has an
inner cavity wide enough to hold
a pen when making a handle, a
length of dowel or a bolt could
be inserted and tied inside
|
|
Before modifying the spool I
tried a braid with just two pegs.
It makes a very tight four sided
braid that the awl or a
nail could fit inside for a handle
|
|
After a few uses with four pegs
the pegs starred to shift, so
I left them tied and added a
fifth peg with two more lashings
around all five pegs (chopsticks)
|
|
The five sided braid being created
with the spool
|
|
A close up of the braid made
with five pegs
|
|
Since this seemed like a good
design so far I used super glue
on the intersections to 'lock'
the pegs into place on the spool.
This worked well, and I have
done a few more projects since.
The pegs do not need to be perfect
for a symmetrical braid, that
is a result of the tension and
work with the awl (hook)
|
Search
Tucson Pictures
