Fun with a Yarn Winder

My mother-in-law got me a yarn winder for Christmas! (The ROYAL one from KnitPicks.) I've wound up most of my skeins and balls now but am going to wait until I have a swift to do the rest of my J Knits sock yarn - it doesn't work so good hanging on the dining room chairs.

It's too much fun and now I am going to have to come up with a way to mount it - and figure out how to get a yarn counter in the mix - so I can use it to measure some of my mystery yarns. :) In other words - I get to build something! Wooyay!

I've been thinking about making a homemade swift but I'd need to get a few things I can't afford right now - unless I use the rest of my gift cards. I might try that first though and then get the real swift with my next next paycheck. Things are going to be really tight until my car is paid off in April, but then we will have money again!! Yay!! :)

I am trying to think of ways now to hold the center-pull balls together. My first thought was rubber bands but for the ones that have no label or small labels, that could ruin it. Now I'm thinking if I just get some construction paper and cut it into strips, I can tape that around them. We'll see. :)

Off to work on my mom's birthday present - I am excited to be half done and can't wait to finish it now.