Making your own supported spindle can be done with materials that you may already have at home or which are easily obtained. Our supported spindle is made from a large Susan Bates plastic double pointed knitting needle, a toy wheel and scotch tape. You could also use a dowel for the shaft, and sand down the ends into points if you don't have a spare dpn lying around. Our whorl was made from a rim-weighted wooden toy wheel obtained from a craft store. The whorl could just as easily be made out of fimo clay, a small ball with a hole through the center, an ancient spindle whorl or any other spherical or disc shaped object that has a centered hole going through it

Here are the details of how to put together a quick and easy support spindle:

Fig 1: Materials for making your support spindle.

Fig 2: Wrap shaft (knitting needle) with scotch tape about 3/4 of the way down the needle length. Taper or step the tape from the top to the bottom to form a wedge that will fit the diameter of the center hole of your chosen whorl. You may have to try on the whorl several times before you have built up enough tape to wedge the whorl on.

Fig 3: Closeup showing stepped tape wrapping.

Fig 4: Slide your whorl (toy wheel)over the top of the shaft and down to the tape. Wedge the whorl tightly onto the tape and adjust if necessary to make sure the whorl is perpendicular to the shaft.

Fig 5: View from the bottom of the attached whorl showing the fit between the tape and the whorl.

Voila! Your spindle is now ready to begin spinning. Although this is a simple construction method, the resulting spindle is surprisingly durable and balanced. Enjoy your spindling!