Wind up a piece of knitting (3)
I believe the answer is:
rib
'a piece of knitting' is the definition.
(type of stitch in knitting)
'wind up' is the wordplay.
'wind' becomes 'bir' (archaic word for a strong wind).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'bir' written backwards gives 'RIB'.
(Other definitions for rib that I've seen before include "Kid" , "Eve is knownj as Adam's . . ." , "Large leaf-vein" , "that was sacrificed for wife originally" , "Thin bone" .)