Sunday, April 19, 2020

Swiftly Now

I made a thing. 

A yarn swift has been on my "I really should make that" list for quite a while now. Every time I wound a hank of yarn into a ball, I'd have to get creative. Usually by wrapping it around a few chairs {cue copious amounts of movement} or even using my knees {cue backache}. And there's always a snag or tangle, it seems. 

So last week, on a whim, I scrounged up some scrap wood in the garage and set to work. 




I loosely followed Steve Ramsey's handy tutorial, especially for basic measurements. I say loosely, because mine is a bit janky and his is far more "finished." Lots of improvising, wheedling, and bungling later, I had a swift. I did go to the trouble of staining it (try to look impressed), and finished it off with some wax. The only materials I needed to purchase were a few bits of hardware and a dowel. Entry level swifts are in the $25 range and they go up from there, so "almost free" was quite acceptable. And while it won't win any beauty contests, it functions well enough for my needs (i.e., it spins...). It even folds compactly.




Rosa's interest was piqued when she saw me using it, so I had her help me wind a ball of yarn. Step One of "Knitting Indoctrination" complete!




For the trial run, I pulled out some yarn I found at a Spring festival a year ago. It's a blend of merino and local alpaca, and I purchased it from the alpaca farmer (who lives just a few miles away from us)! It's such a lovely muted shade of purple, and I can't decide what to use it for. But hey, when I do find a project, it will be ready to go.


Emma was quite fascinated by the swift, but happily she kept her distance:






Of course, once the swift was built I needed a way to store it when not in use. I re-purposed a long linen/cotton skirt I'd found at a local charity shop -- it even had a drawstring, so with a few modifications I was able to reuse the drawstring channel. Some of the scrap drawstring serves as a loop so I can hang my swift in the closet. It probably took about 10 minutes to disassemble the skirt (including unpicking the waistband so I could salvage the elastic and drawstring), and another 10 to assemble the drawstring bag. Laddie helped me by measuring the swift and pushing the sewing machine pedal. 




My knitting addiction often seems to seep into other crafty areas; usually it's just sewing (pouches, needle storage, knitting bag), but this time it included a bit of woodworking. I enjoyed getting to work with my hands in different ways, and I know I'll very much enjoy how simple and swift (pun intended) it will be to wind my yarn now -- especially when the ball winder I have on order arrives!


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