Hello. My name is Linda. And I am one cheap bitch.

I was just having a discussion on Ravelry with some folks and I realized just how cheap I really am. I'm from New England, and half my genes are from Scotland, so I have sort of an inbred frugality, but I also lived in Maine for 10 years, so I have acquired a "make do" attitude on top of that. So here are a few of my el cheapo responses to knitting and spinning paraphenalia. Please, feel free to add your own...

Nostepine: A super cool way to wind a center-pull ball of yarn, but really, it's just a tapered stick. I use a size 19 wooden knitting needle. I also have some scraps of bamboo that look pretty cool.

Niddy Noddy: Another great tool, this enables you to wind a skein of handspun yarn, and know how many yards you've got when you're done (they come in various sizes, like 1/2 yard, 1 yard, etc. You just count your wraps and do a little math.). Again, it's mostly sticks. I use the back of an antique straightback chair we use when sitting at the laptop in the bay window. It's exactly 36" per wrap.

Stitch Holder: Looking like enormous safety pins, they reminded me a little too much of baby items. Ick. I use scrap yarn. It's cheap, it's recycling, and I can try on the item any time I want to.

Drop Spindle: I love my turkish spindles, I really do. But a spindle is really just a round thing with a long straight thing pushed through it. Take an old CD, a rubber grommet from the hardware store, and a length of dowel. Instant spindle.