Cotton Reels.

[Atheist]

We used to make tanks out of cotton reels. They were wooden cotton reels and we would tap a couple of panel pins into the side of the reel and then attach a matchstick and a rubber band, and when wound up that would produce a slow unwinding which would drive the "tank" forward.
Another use was to tap four panel pins into the end of the reel. forming a square round the hole, and to attach an end of wool to one of the pins: we then used a bodkin to feed wool around the the pins in a subtle way and eventually there would appear a woven 'tube' of wool out of the bottom of the reel' hole.

Anyone remember this?

[Buenchico]

[Spicerack]

Oh yeah. We put nicks around the edge of the reel for extra traction.
It were our X-Box.
Should have stuck this in CB, imo.

[mallyh]

I use to make the wool tubes ,miles of it lol

[Atheist]

Buen, you seem to have found the 'tank' thing, but it all sounds a bit intellectual, whereas we just did it. The other stuff, whose name I can't remember, remains a mystery to me; I can't remember the way that the loops were manipulated. I should be able to re-create it, but I don't have a cotton reel to hand. Thanks for your help.

[Spicerack]

French arrows?
Tin cans with a bit of string in between. Never worked.

[Mamyalynne]

French knitting.

[Atheist]

mallyh, could you perhaps remind me of the technique?

[tonyav]

Can you still get wooden cotton reels ?

Remember making the tanks, good fun as a kid.

[Mamyalynne]

This uses a purpose made bobbin but you'll get the idea

[woofgang]

yes. I still have a stash of wooden reels to do this with. For better traction on the tank, you could chip "V's" out of the rims of the reel.

[tonyav]

For better traction on the tank, you could chip "V's" out of the rims of the reel.

Yep, all part of the fun chipping out the ''V''s with a pen knife.

[Cloverjo]

Yes, I remember French knitting with the cotton reels. I made a few table mats by spiralling the wooly tubes.
I wanted to show my son how to when he was little but couldn’t remember how it works.

[Atheist]

Tin cans and taught string worked very well. "French knitting" rings a bell, so thank you, Mamy...

[Atheist]

Sorry, fellow pedants. I meant "taut".

[Spicerack]

That'll be why it never worked for us.

[woofgang]

I had my first pen knife when i was about 7. We were on holiday and my Dad used to look after me in Littlehampton while Mum and my big sis went to the shops to get food. We used to go to an arcade that had a sweetshop and a tobacconist and treat outselves. The tobacconist sold pen knives and I had been saving up all year and my Dad let me buy a pen knife! Mum went spare....she would have gone sparer if she had seen the one I wanted to buy but (to dad's relief) I couldn't afford! i still love a good knife

[jno]

yes, we did French knitting too, Mamya. We were taught in primary school, along with real knitting and sewing. Boys as well as girls.

[tonyav]

I can remember my first pen knife to, bought from Fred Spencers bicycle and toy shop in our village. It had a Brown handle, light and dark Brown hoops down the handle. Mom also didn't want me to have one but hey Dad said it was okay.

[jno]

must have come in handy when you were making a pen out of a goose quill, tonyav.

[Spicerack]

We all had Bowie knives in sheathes. What were our parents thinking?