“Niddy-noddy, Niddy-noddy, two heads, one body. 'Tis one, t'aint one, be one soon. “Tis two, t'aint two, be two soon. “Tis three, 't'aint three, be three soon........” So goes the traditional rhyme use for counting the number of strands of yarn wound onto a niddy-noddy. The cadence of the rhyme corresponds to the motion of the niddy with the count changing each time one wrapping is completed.

The niddy-noddy is an odd looking piece of spinning equipment used for winding yarn into skeins. It's appearance what with it's straight shaft and 2 crosspieces set at right angles to the shaft and to each other tends to leave even experienced spinners scratching their heads and wondering how in the world the things works to wind a skein. Yet work it does and it also works a bit of magic as the skein is wound by making a skein twice its length. If your niddy is 18” (half meter) long, then it will wind a skein that is 1 yard (1 meter) in length. If it is a yard (meter) long, then the skein will be 2 yards (2 meters) long. So counting while winding will give you the total yardage of your skein of yarn. Pretty slick.

A niddy-noddy must be sturdily made so neither the crosspieces or the shaft will bow under the tension of the yarn being wound on when it is being used. It also must be made as described above: a straight shaft with two crosspieces which are set at right angles to the shaft and to each other.


WINDING A SKEIN

Step 1. From the starting point, around point A, to point B:

Start by holding one end of the yarn against the center of the shaft. The niddy should be vertical and positioned so you are looking at the tip end of the upper crosspiece (point A). Now bring the yarn up and to the left of the upper crosspiece (point A) and then down in front of the right side of the lower crosspiece (point B). As you come up behind the right lower crosspiece (point B), tilt the niddy to a horizontal position so the lower crosspiece moves left and the upper crosspiece moves to your right.


Step B. From point B to point C.

With the niddy held horizontally and the yarn coming under point B, bring the yarn in front of and over point C. While bringing the yarn around point C, return the niddy to a vertical position. It will look like this:


Step C:

Step C gets a bit trickier. Bring the yarn down from point C to point D which will be on the lower crosspiece to the rear. The yarn comes down to the right side of point D. Rotate the niddy back to horizontal by moving the top down and to the left while rotating the niddy counterclockwise until the tip end of the bottom crosspiece (point D) is facing you, then turn the niddy back to vertical and bring the yarn up to the starting point. 'Tis one.

It will look like this:


This takes much longer to explain than it takes to actually do. It is also much simpler than it sounds when written out. As you practice winding skeins on a niddy-noddy and watch the "nodding" motion used in winding, you will see how it gets it's name.