Home-made yarn winder (Now with more pictures)

[JoHunter]

Happy New Year everyone!  I just wanted to share my new yarn related Xmas present with everyone.  For christmas I aquired over 20 lovely hanks of yarn, but with no winder it'd be 20 hours of winding before any knitting could begin.  So my boyfriend came up with this ingenius solution:

Yes, that's all lego.  Powered by two motors and the RCX it winds the most wonderful balls I could ever hope for.  And here's the resulting ball of Debbie Bliss Maya (soho) wound from it. 

Yes, I am the luckiest knitter around.  Now if only he could make a lego spinning wheel...

Now for more pictures and description of how it's built go here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=21252.msg201750#msg201750

[renrig210]

okay, so that's flippin' awesome.  I is truly jealous.

[GloryB]

That's nice.  Your ball looks just like one you would have gotten if you had bought a ball winder.  Your boyfriend is a keeper.

[dr15]

WOW.

Ingenious!

what a pitty i've only got regular lego...

[Radegund]

That's so clever!   

[bftscgirl]

That maybe the best present and boyfriend ever. I am in the market for a new winder and boyfriend. So does your boyfriend have an equally as talented single brother? Lol. No seriously.Lol.  WOW great gift. Happy New Year!!!!!

[amobabe]

I can't decide which I love more: your boyfriend or the ball-winder. Wow!

[Singlemom]

I could soooooooo use one of those...ball-winder or boyfriend, take your pick. 

[Atouria]

WOW!!! What a great boyfriend!!!  I love it!  Is there any chance for a tute??? 

[JoHunter]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys   He really appreciates it, and might be interested in making a tutorial later if I ever stop winding on it, it does take some specialised pieces (the RCX unit, motors and the turntable) though for those interested.  For the time being I drape my hanks over the back of a chair and help unwind it from the hank as it goes along.  If I had a swift it'd just be able to wind without any interference.