Majacraft New Bobbins Review

By Suzy Brown

(This article was first published in Issue 9 of tinyStudio Creative Life Magazine)

Over the years I have had the privilege of being able to test new products as they come out of Majacraft’s workshop. Most recently, there has been a great deal of excitement as they have worked on and refined the latest additions to their product range! I have been testing out these new bobbins, and I would like to tell you all the cool stuff about them!

As you can see, there are now two new jumbo bobbins available, one in black molded plastic, and the other in bamboo with the lovely shaped cut-outs and 3d printed rings. The jumbo bobbins (both black and wood) will fit 8oz of yarn easily and match up with the Aura and Plying flyers in size, these are the bobbins that come with the Aura and they can also be ordered separately for any of the other wheels so long as you have the Aura or Plying flyer to fit them. (You can also order them in some of the Majacraft kits with flyer included).

The standard bobbins now also come in both the black plastic and the bamboo styles. These are the 4oz bobbins that come with the Suzie wheels as well as the Rose, Pioneer, and Little Gem.  Isn’t it great to have choices?! 

The delightful wee baby bobbins and lace bobbins also come with the pretty bamboo ends, as well as the super cute Stylus bobbin. But if you really want to go BIG you can also now get the massive 32oz+ Overdrive bobbins as well to match your Overdrive head for spinning very large quantities of any yarn!

After using these bobbins for a while now I can tell you why they are so good! Firstly, they look awesome. I can’t decide if I like the black plastic or the new look wood better. It is very nice indeed to be able to see through the ends and admire the yarn as I am spinning, and of course, the full bobbins look gorgeous.

Secondly, these bobbins are all so much lighter than their predecessors. In fact, the fat core lace bobbin used to be 80gm (2.82oz) and the new version now weights in at only 50gm (1.76oz). This is a massive difference on such a wee bobbin, you can imagine the weight difference in the Overdrive! This means the entire range is significantly lighter, so spinning is easier, with less inertia generated from the bobbins spin.

Lastly, for those of you with the Scotch tension Majacraft wheels, you will also notice a difference in how they sound! The plastic edges on all these bobbins are much quieter against the tension band, and as a little extra bonus, due to the ends being precision cut rather than hand turned, all your bobbins will be exactly the same without the potential variations that can alter the ‘play’ of the bobbin on the wheel.

As always, all these bobbins except the Overdrive are totally interchangeable and you can use any of them on any of your wheels. These are a wonderful update to the Majacraft range and I think you will love them too!

Above: A beautiful silk Merino blend spun onto the jumbo and the standard bobbins, ready for plying

Some pure Alpaca plied into the standard size bamboo bobbin

An big and squishy art yarn spun on the jumbo bobbin