My immediate thought was "What's wrong with using a hand drill, which most people will have probably have in their toolbox?" but I can see that this is smaller and lighter.
The manufacturer seems to have variations on it, and if you really want something particularly for thin wire or embroidery thread Maplins in the UK (equivalent to Radioshack in the USA) sell a "miniature precision hand drill" which is identical to the Spinster except it has a chuck instead of a hook. You can easily fix a hook in the chuck. Other countries must have similar stores. Apart from being more versatile than the Spinster, it's also a lot cheaper. Amazon is selling the Spinster for GBP14.95, Maplins is selling the mini drill for just GBP5.99 Jean Nathan in Poole, Dorset, UK - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
