Old sock top folded into a wrist distaff.
The wrist distaff in use.
I've had some old socks sitting around for a while. They were nice socks, but now there are huge patches of nylon where there was once wool. But the tops are still in good shape and I had this idea that I should be able to find something useful to do with them. I generally don't make things needing cuffs, so I thought about it a good long time and was about to give up. Until yesterday, when I was at a spinning demo where I couldn't keep my fiber under control for all the wind. I tucked it into the sleeve of my shirt. Aha! A wrist distaff!
A distaff, for those in need of textile history review, is a device for holding fiber for spinning. They aren't so common now because modern spinners have the luxury of spinning mostly inside or when the weather is nice and I'm not going to die of cold if I don't get that blanket done before winter. But sometimes it's nice to have a place to hold your fiber so you can concentrate on the spinning. One recent development is the cuff wrist distaff, so you can still tuck your fiber into your sleeve even when you are wearing a t-shirt.
Cut off the still-good top of an old sock and fold it into thirds so the ends are tucked inside. If you really feel ambitious, you can overcast the raw edge first but it's not critical. Then stick it on your wrist and tuck a bit of fiber under it. Now you can spin without chasing your fiber across the pasture.
Old sock top folded into a wrist distaff.
The wrist distaff in use.