Had a great weekend gaming with a group of friends from all over the place. Old PBM friends (Delenda est Carthago), Redemption and Discworld friends, Morris dancers, local gamers, nephews, etc.
I also got to chat about yarn with tictactoepony
We have a (inherited) gadget that looks like this:

I figured it had something to do with yarn winding, but when I tried to wind yarn on it, it made a ball that was too tight to slide off the cylinder (the wooden cylinder is concave), the cylinder is also hollow, with a interior profile a bit like and ice cream cone.
One of our party suggested it was a winder for lace bobbins, and there are certainly pictures on the web of gadgets like this labelled as bobbin winders. (and there is something that might be a lace pattern in the drawer at the bottom) Frustratingly, there are no pictures or videos of them actually being used to wind lace bobbins... (the bobbin would presumably fit inside the cylinder). I'm not entirely convinced by this, as I can't help feeling that the bobbin wouldn't be gripped very well.
then I found this video, which simply makes things more complicated:
If you have an idea of what my winder is actually meant to do and how it works, please tell me!
I also got to chat about yarn with tictactoepony
We have a (inherited) gadget that looks like this:

I figured it had something to do with yarn winding, but when I tried to wind yarn on it, it made a ball that was too tight to slide off the cylinder (the wooden cylinder is concave), the cylinder is also hollow, with a interior profile a bit like and ice cream cone.
One of our party suggested it was a winder for lace bobbins, and there are certainly pictures on the web of gadgets like this labelled as bobbin winders. (and there is something that might be a lace pattern in the drawer at the bottom) Frustratingly, there are no pictures or videos of them actually being used to wind lace bobbins... (the bobbin would presumably fit inside the cylinder). I'm not entirely convinced by this, as I can't help feeling that the bobbin wouldn't be gripped very well.
then I found this video, which simply makes things more complicated:
If you have an idea of what my winder is actually meant to do and how it works, please tell me!