Fringe Twister you can make yourself!

I finally made a fringe twister myself. I have been traveling around to sheep and wool festivals, and no one sells fringe twisters.

You can twist the ends of your weaving or knitting projects by hand.  My good friend and weaver, Rosie, has a battery operated twister, but taught me the simple procedure.  Hold your work flat on a table with book on it or between your knees or pinned to your trousers to steady the weaving. Smooth out your ends and separate the first 4 threads on one side. (If you have an extra thread later, just add it to two threads to make a twist of 3). You take two threads between your thumb and pointy finger and twist them together in one direction till they start to buckle holding the twist with your other hand. Hold the ends of these between your ring and pinkie finger and take the next two threads and twist them together in the same direction till they buckle.  Now take the two newly twisted sets of threads and twist them together in the opposite direction. They will form a nice little rope and you can knot the end so it stays.  Licking the end of your threads helps a lot. Move across your piece.

Keep in mind, I am not a carpenter, electrician or joiner.  I also do not know how to solder, but soldering would be so much better I think!  This one does work though!

To make the yarn twister above, you need:

two alligator clips, Walmart automotive section or Radio Shack with hollow stems, 
two large electrical staples, Home Depot electric supply,
two blocks of wood, 3/4" x 1" by 3" (the above are a little smaller, but a little too tight for my fingers)
two beads with large holes for ends
8 tiny washers, Home Depot, 1/8" holes
Gorilla or two part epoxy glue

You also need a drill with 1/8" bit and a vise.

You need to drill holes in the wood blocks, centered 1-1/4" apart, making sure the two blocks of wood line up with each other. A drill press is much better than a hand drill as the holes will be straight and line up better. Carefully glue washers on both sides of your holes on each block.

I used a vise to clamp my electrical staple into and twisted one leg of each staple around with a hammer. I then had to put the whole staple back in the vise and clamp and hammer till both staples were lined up perfectly flat and even with each other. This is very important for them to move together later. Assemble to wood blocks and make sure they move before you attach the alligator clips and beads.

I assembled the gadget as above and glued the alligator clips on one end and the beads on the other end. Leave a little room next to each washer.

That's it!

To use, simply clip two threads in one alligator, and two threads in the other alligator.  Grasp the two blocks between your thumbs and pointy fingers and rotate in one direction. Remove two twisted sets and clip both into one alligator and rotate in the other direction.  So much faster!

Have fun, be creative!