Hello everyone, Kirstin here. Our post today is somewhere between a review for fellow spinners and a public service announcement, because sometimes you just need someone to tell you the obvious. Or I do, anyway.
When I bought my new wheel, the Schacht Sidekick, it came with bulky flyer. This accessory makes it easier to spin specialty and thick yarn. It has an extra large orifice (…must….resist urge…to make off-color jokes…), a specialized maiden, a huge bobbin, and a loop that winds the yarn on the bobbin instead of hooks.
Normal flyer on the left, larger-than-life bulky flyer on the right. It’s almost comically large.
The large bobbin is great, because I don’t have to stop and wind off finished yarn as often; bulky yarns fill up a regular bobbin quickly.
Anything that fits through the orifice can be plied into yarn. I could spin yarn that has large beads, or loops, or feathers, or bolts, or whatever else I wanted. The plastic loop that winds on the yarn doesn’t catch as easily on all the flotsam as the hooks do.
Now here are the public service announcements. You can spin regular yarn on it too! This thing is great for plying, because you don’t have to stop and wind off your yarn halfway through! And, a cautionary note: just because the bead or bolt or whatever fits through the orifice doesn’t mean it will fit through the plastic loop for winding the yarn on.
All in all, though, I’m really pleased with this accessory. Would I have paid $250-$300 for it? Well, I wouldn’t have, but if you are making large quantities of the same yarn (even if it is just regular worsted weight yarn), you probably should. I know my knitters complain when I send them 3 tiny skeins of yarn they have to join into one project!
Cliff House Alpacas 