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Great Design: Maurice Ribble's Device for Measuring the Length of Yarn

There's a reason the EEW Yarn Counter has clocked $130k-plus on Kickstarter

By Rain Noe - June 2, 2021

in Crowdfunding

This doesn't look like much and will never make it into the MoMA, but I consider this great design. Inventor Maurice Ribble has invented an easy-to-use, no-frills object that solves a practical problem experienced by the target market.

That market is knitters, for whom it would be helpful to know exactly how much yarn is in that ball they're about to start a project with. "There are a lot of knitting or weaving projects that need equal lengths of yarn, such as a blanket made up of 25 knitted squares," Ribble writes. "This tool lets you measure out the yarn for those squares ahead of time." And it's bound to appeal to the thrifty; knowing exactly how much yarn you've got allows you "to pick a pattern because you will have just the right amount, and you won't have excessive leftovers."

Additionally:

- "Another great use for this counter is when knitting socks. You can easily divide the yarn in half, so you can use all your yarn and have the socks the same length."

- "Knitters and crocheters can measure yarn as they use it to track progress, estimate remaining yarn, and pick better yarn transition points."

- "Weavers who use sectional warping will find the counter invaluable in helping them measure many identical warps."

The screen and buttons are unfancy and basic, which is exactly what I'd want in an object like this.

Watching Ribble's presentation, it's clear that over the two-year development process, he did the things a good designer should. He took feedback from testers and discovered that they wanted to use the device in ways he did not anticipate, then modified the design to suit. He thought through the UX and concluded that having to thread the yarn through an eye would be fiddly, and that the pigtails on either side were a better physical solution. He figured out how to compensate for the stretchiness of yarn affecting the accuracy.

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It's not for nothing that at press time, Ribble's $45 EEW Yarn Counter had clocked $133,696 in pledges, far exceeding his $10,000 goal. Congratulations to Ribble!

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Jill Karol

4 years ago

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This isn't new, but it is a less expensive version of ones that are out there. Whoops I take it back, I was looking at yarn stores like Webs, but if you just google yardage counter you wind up with a lot more options. Most don't seem to address the issue of tension though, which is a huge deal. I've been using a McMorran yarn balance (check it out, I think you'd find it interesting) to find yardage on mystery skeins, but maybe this would be better for estimating how many yards are in in row/round, so I can finally stop playing yarn chicken (hoping you have enough to finish the project)

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John Whitley

4 years ago

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This is extremely in my bailiwick and I backed it instantly. If this device is reasonably accurate and repeatable it will be a game-changer for a quite a lot of handwork fiber arts processes. I know of a high-end studio in Japan that had a similar device built into a custom warping/setup machine, but in no way modular. This solves the hard part of building all manner of similar contraptions, so it’ll be great for individual artists as the video shows, but scale up in all kinds of wild ways for diy/studio/professional usage.

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