paper quills: The Good, the bad, and the really, really ugly

I tend to weave with fine yarns, and when I do, I weave with an end-feed shuttle and pirns.  Yet I still find using paper quills invaluable.  

They can be used instead of a bobbin in a boat shuttle, and I do use them that way when I have to fill lots and lots of paper quills for weaving demos, and I simply don't have enough plastic bobbins available.  I use them instead of plastic bobbins for heavier yarns when the end-feed shuttle won't work

In my studio, I use them for storing leftover yarn that comes off of bobbins and pirns.  When I am done with a project, I wind yarn off of my pirns onto paper quills and rubber band them to the cones they belong to.  That way a) I free up my pirns and plastic bobbins, and b) I keep the leftovers strapped to the parent cone so I don't get dye lots mixed up.

So how do you make a paper quill?  
First I make a template out of card stock.  This is oval shaped and about as long as my plastic bobbins and about 2/3 as wide.  I trace 2 of them onto a piece of 20-lb or 24-lb copy paper or brown paper bags and cut out the 2 quills.  I can usually stack 3 or 4 pieces of paper and cut several out at a time.

Winding a paper quill:
I use a Swedish bobbin winder to wind the paper quills, but any winder should do.  First wind the piece of paper tightly around the pirn of the bobbin winder (I start the paper behind the pirn and wind it towards me - see picture).  After you get it wound on about half way, stick the end of the yarn in there and keep winding.  Once the paper is fully wound on, Start cranking and wind with firm tension on the yarn, forming little bumps on each end and then filling in the middle.

TIP #1: To get that paper started winding on tightly, it sometimes helps to lick (yes, lick) the edge that you are wrapping onto the pirn.

TIP #2:  Use a little piece of thin leather around the yarn to help you get good tension of the yarn without getting "rope burn" on your fingers. 

The Bad and the Really, Really Ugly:
Okay, so it doesn't always work perfectly.  Tip #3 is this: when you wind the paper quill, do NOT wind too close to the ends of the quill.  It might look okay at first, but trust me, it will end up looking like this:

And that is when you spend 30 minutes with the paper quill on the floor while you try to rewind it onto another paper quill.  NOT fun!

But all in all, paper quills can free you from the money pit of buying endless bobbins and save you the headache of not knowing which leftovers go with which cones of yarn.
Try it!