Yarn holding device

Abstract

A yarn holding device is provided for holding and carrying a spool or skein of yarn by a person while knitting and/or crocheting. The device can hang downwardly from the arm or hand of the person while providing a supply of yarn to the person while knitting. The device has a handle in the form of a ring that can hang from the arm of the person. A shaft extends from the ring with a length to carry the skein of yarn. A sleeve in mounted on the shaft and carries the yarn during use. The sleeve is rotatable on the shaft to feed the yarn. A removable base is coupled to the bottom end of the shaft for removing the sleeve from the shaft and for positioning the sleeve with the yarn of the shaft. An eyelet is provided on the ring to feed the yarn from the skein to the person during use.

Description

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of provisional application No. 61/064,195 filed Feb. 21, 2008 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a yarn holding device that can easily be held by a person while knitting or crocheting. The invention is particularly directed to a yarn holding device that hangs on the arm of the user while knitting or crocheting to provide a supply of yarn to the person.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

During knitting or crocheting, the spool or skein of yarn can often become tangled. To prevent the yarn from becoming tangled, the yarn is often retained in the bag or other container. The yarn can also be attached to a spooling device.

One prior device to hold the yarn during knitting is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,458 to Goldthreate. This device includes a base having a handle and a plurality of support posts on the base. A spool having the yarn wound thereon is placed over one of the posts.

Another device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,267 to Bekan which includes a ball shaped yarn holding member. The yarn is fed through an opening in the ball to supply the yarn while knitting. A bracelet is attached to the ball so the ball can be carried and worn during use.

Although the prior devices have been useful for their intended purpose, there is a continuing need for an improved yarn holding device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a yarn holding device that can be easily held by the user while knitting or crocheting. The invention is particularly directed to a yarn holding device that hangs on the arm of the user while knitting or crocheting.

The yarn holding device of the invention includes a shaft attached to a base for holding a spool or skein of yarn. A ring is attached to one end of the shaft having an opening sufficient to allow the user to extend their arm through for holding and suspending the device during use. The ring includes an eyelet for feeding the yarn from the spool to the user.

One aspect of the invention is to provide a yarn holding device having a shaft and a sleeve on the shaft where the sleeve holds the yarn during use. The sleeve is able to rotate easily on the shaft while feeding the yarn through the eyelet during use.

These and other aspects of the invention are basically attained by providing a yarn holding device having a ring hanging on the arm of a user during use and a shaft extending from the ring. The ring includes an eyelet extending outwardly from the outer edge of the ring. A spool or skein of yarn is positioned on a hollow sleeve which is mounted on the shaft and is rotatable with respect to the shaft. A base is attached to the end of the shaft to retain the sleeve on the shaft during use. The yarn is fed through the eyelet to supply the yarn to the user while knitting or crocheting.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the annexed drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is a brief description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is side elevational view of the yarn holding device showing the yarn supported on the device and the yarn fed through an eyelet in the device;

FIG. 2 is perspective view in partial cross section showing the yarn on the device;

FIG. 3 is side view of the device in partial cross section;

FIG. 4 is an exploded side view of the device; and

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the yarn being mounted on the sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is particularly directed to a yarn holding device that hangs on the arm of the user while knitting or crocheting so that the yarn can be fed to the person knitting from the skein while the skein is retained on the device.

Referring to the drawings, the yarn holding device 10 of the invention includes a handle in the form of a ring 12, a shaft 14, a sleeve 16 and a base 18. Ring 12 as shown in FIG. 1 has an opening 20 with a dimension for allowing a user to extend their arm and/or hand though the opening so the device can hang on the arm of the user during use. In the embodiment shown, ring 12 has a substantially circular shape although in other embodiments, the ring can have any shape or size that enables the user to carry and support the yarn. In preferred embodiments, the ring can hang on the user's arm during use so the user has both hands free for knitting and/or crocheting. The device preferably hangs downwardly from the arm of the person during use in the position shown in FIG. 1.

Ring 12 includes an eyelet 22 for receiving the yarn 24 during use. As shown, the eyelet 22 is provided on the end of a leg 26 so that the eyelet is spaced from the ring 12. The length of the leg 26 and the spacing of the eyelet from the ring can vary depending on the needs of the user. In one alternative embodiment, the eyelet can be contiguous with the ring 12. The eyelet 22 has an opening 28 with a dimension sufficient to feed the yarn 24 from a spool or skein 30 to the user without binding.

The shaft 14 is attached to the ring 12 and extends radially outwardly from the ring. In the embodiment shown, the shaft 14 is a separate element that is attached to the ring 12 by a screw 32. Ring 12 has an aperture 34 extending radially through the ring 12 and an extension 36 shown in FIG. 2. The screw 32 extends through a hole 38 in the extension 36 and is threaded into one end of the hole 38. The shaft 14 has a transverse hole 40 through which the screw passes for attaching the shaft 14 to the ring 12. The shaft 13 can also be attached to the ring 12 by other coupling means. In another embodiment, the shaft and the ring are integrally formed as a one piece member.

The bottom end of the shaft 14 in the embodiment shown has external threads 42 for coupling with the base 18 as shown in FIG. 5. Base 18 has a centrally located threaded hole 44 for coupling with the threaded end on the shaft 14. Base 18 in the embodiment shown has a substantially circular shape with a flat top surface and flat bottom surface. The threaded hole 44 typically extends completely though the base 18. In other embodiments, the threaded hole 44 extends only partially through the base 18 a distance to enable the shaft to be secured to the base 18. The threaded hole 44 enables the shaft 14 to be removably coupled to the base 18 for loading yarn onto the device 10. The base can have other shapes and dimensions that enable the base to retain the yarn on the shaft during use.

The sleeve 16 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a hollow axial passage 46 that enable the sleeve 16 to slide onto the shaft 18. In the embodiment shown, the sleeve 16 has substantially flat ends with the bottom end contacting the top surface of the base 18. The axial passage 46 of the sleeve 16 has a dimension to slide onto the shaft 18 and spin freely while in use.

During use of the device 10, the skein of yarn 30 is positioned on the sleeve as shown in FIG. 4 by sliding the yarn 30 onto the sleeve 16. The sleeve 16 is removed from the device 10 by unscrewing the base 18 from the shaft 14 as depicted in FIG. 4 and sliding the sleeve 16 from the shaft 14. To assist in sliding the skein of yarn on the sleeve 16, a guide member 48 is inserted into the open end of the sleeve 16 as shown in FIG. 5. The guide member 48 has a base 50 with a cylindrical shape that can be inserted into the open end of the axial passage of the sleeve 16 and retained by a friction fit. The opposite end of the guide member 48 has a frustoconical shaped portion 52. The guide member 48 is fitted onto the sleeve 16 and inserted though the center of the skein of yarn 30 to enable easy placement of the yarn on the sleeve without snagging. After the yarn is placed on the sleeve 16, the guide member 48 is removed and the sleeve is positioned on the shaft 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The base 18 is then attached to the shaft 14 by screwing the threaded end of the shaft 14 into the threaded hole in the base 18 to retain the yarn on the device. The end of the yarn is then threaded through the eyelet as shown in FIG. 1 for supplying the yarn to the user for knitting and/or crocheting. The user can extend their arm or hand through the ring 12 to carry the device and the yarn during use. In this manner, the yarn is readily available to the user while knitting and retains the yarn in a controlled manner. The sleeve 16 is rotatable on the shaft 14 to allow the yarn to be fed easily while knitting.

While various embodiments have been shown and described, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as described in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A yarn holding device adapted for holding and feeding yarn to a person while knitting or crocheting, the device comprising: a shaft having an axial length with a top end and bottom end, the shaft having a dimension for receiving and supporting a spool or skein of yarn where the spool or skein of yarn is rotatable on the shaft;a handle coupled to the top end of the shaft adapted for carrying the device during use and while knitting or crocheting to allow both hands of the person to be free; anda base removably coupled to the bottom end of the shaft, the base having a dimension to retain the yarn on the shaft.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the shaft is fixed to the handle, andthe handle has a circular ring shape with a central opening having a dimension to receive the arm of the person during use, the handle being adapted for hanging on the arm of the person while in use.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the handle has an eyelet extending outwardly for supplying yarn from the skein to the user while knitting or crocheting.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the shaft is removably coupled to the handle by a fastener.

5. The device of claim 3, further comprising a sleeve rotatably mounted on the shaft and extending through the skein of yarn, and where the sleeve is removably coupled to the shaft.

6. A yarn holding device adapted for holding and feeding yarn to a person while knitting or crocheting, the device comprising: a shaft having an axial length with a top end and bottom end, the shaft having a dimension for supporting a spool or skein of yarn;a sleeve having an axial passage and mounted on the shaft and being rotatable with respect to the shaft, the sleeve having an axial length and diameter to support the skein the yarn;a handle coupled to the top end of the shaft, the handle being in the shape of a ring with central opening having a dimension for allowing the arm of a person to pass through and being adapted for carrying the device by the person during use;an eyelet extending from an outer edge of the ring-shaped handle, the eyelet having an aperture to receive yarn from the skein and supplying the yarn to the person during use; anda base removably coupled to the bottom end of the shaft, the base having a dimension sufficient to retain the skein of yarn and the sleeve on the shaft.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the bottom end of the shaft has external threads, and where the base has a threaded hole for removably coupling with the threaded end of the shaft.