too anti-social to entertain, so the dining room is full of...swifts.
The first one (above) is Mama. She was my shiny new swift of eaons ago (April). Looking a bit worn, a bit weary, a bit dilapidated, much like her owner. Notice the re-ties in orange yarn where the jute wore out? Notice the hockey tape shoring up her axle to her base? She creaks and squeaks and leans to one side. Well, you would too, if you had run the miles she has. I'm not going to do the math, but somebody tell me: how many miles is it approximately if you average 300yds per skein, being wound on once, off once, and on once (total of three times through the swift) and multiply that by about three hundred skeins. That's a hell of a lot more yarn than most people's swifts see in a liftetime. So we'll cut her some slack.
Fearing she was on her last, um, legs, I bought....BIG MAMA:
Gee, I thought I had a big swift until this monster arrived. I bought BIG MAMA from elann on Friday, so naturally she showed up this morning. (sheesh!) The hot new thing in town. But she was friendly to little mama, so I'm a' gonna keep her. (And no, Benne, that is NOT toilet paper in the background).
Then we have Mama's Little Helper:
I love this swift. It's cheap and light and spins very freely. And it has a little crank handle on top. I bought this one a few weeks ago, and it has cut my swift-labour in half. Now for re-skeining, I put the damp skein on Little Mama, and attach the loose end to the Helper, and wind away. You should see how fast it goes, and all in one step. Paid for itself in a day or two.
Colin is off from school now, and he has to earn money for a school trip to Orlando Florida next year (lucky duck). So, he's indentured to service, I mean working for me, winding yarn from balls and off cones into skeins. This afternoon we had all three going at once. Whee!
12 comments:
Little Momma deserves a vacation after all those winds.
Wow, 3 swifts residing with a girl who not long ago refused to allow swifts and winders into her universe?? (Any sign if a winder yet?)
Have fun! I have a Mama Bear flat swift and love it. Some of your sock yarn recently had a spin on it.
wooo! my mama's little helper has a screw top bottle lid!!!
yours looks more fun though
No sign of a winder, Joan, but not for lack of trying. Elann is chronically sold out and even my fave Birkeland is sold out for now. Okay, I admit that's all the effort I've given to the ball winder.
But My-Three-Swifts (da da da daaa...cue My Three Sons music)...oh how essential!
I think I heard a sigh of relief from LM when the monster arrived, Kim.
Is that a sweat shop of yarn winders in your dining room??? Child labor, I'm all for it in their own homes, great reason to have a bunch of kids. HA! So glad it wasn't toilet paper on the table. You know, you've changed my perspective. I now think toilet paper looks like undyed BFL. ;-}
Three swifts? Whoopeeeee! Your house is a carnival of yarn!
Carnival or Zoo...not sure which...
Wow, three swifts?! To use them simultaneously, you would need to grow 4 more hands if you didn't have your helper, lol...
First you force me to buy your beautiful yarn. Now you've got me hopping to Elann to get a substantial wooden swift to replace my rickety metal and plastic one. I'm not sure I can afford to keep reading your blog and visiting your store.
Seriously, the yarn is just beautiful. I'll be putting a photo up on my blog soon. Two shawls and a scarf, all three lacy, I think.
I don't recall twisting your (rubber) arm, Mary. :)
Do you actually use your swift to make a skein? I read somewhere that a swift works best for already made skeins being turned into balls with a winder.
I got a swift at Christmas. Combined with my electric ball winder, we could have saved big bucks and not put in air conditioning. The wind it creates! LOL.
No need to twist my arm, as modern techniques of mind control work so well. Perhaps if I knitted myself a tin-foil hat....
Odd, isn't it, how the hats are always tin foil, not aluminum. Although I'd think that it would be possible to knit a Faraday cage from the Habu wrapped stainless steel yarn, which probably means it's not the best yarn to use for a cellular phone bag.
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