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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Amazing and Awesome Swift
Over Memorial Day weekend, I was browsing Ravelry, as I do, and decided to find out how hard it would be to make a yarn swift. I’ve been doing what I can to detangle yarn and get it into a ball, but this is often difficult. I’ve tried having it on my lap, but that usually results in several hours of yarn detangling and frustration. I’ve hung it off of the arms of chairs, to varying success. The most recent was to pull out the big drawer of my desk and hang it on that to wind it into a ball. It worked, but it took a long time, even with Johnathan’s help. I had seen some projects on Ravelry and some folks talk about how they were able to make their own home-made swifts out of hangers and various other materials. I figured that it shouldn’t be too hard, and that we might be able to construct one at home. I would have loved to buy one, but at $65 or more, it was prohibitively expensive. It was simpler just to do it the hard way. So I started kind of absent-mindedly looking. I wasn’t even sure I would find anything.
And then – a miracle happened. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t really a miracle. I discovered a project on Ravelry of a swift that had been constructed out of PVC pipe. It looked pretty simple in its construction. I showed it to Johnathan and it served as a major inspiration for him. He instantly insisted that we go to the hardware store for supplies. He studied the pictures and the instructions given by the person who made the original and came up with a plan. It was amazing to see his excitement for something that would, ultimately, be for assisting with my fiber habit. I mean, it wasn’t even for his own hobby! But he was excited.
While Allison visited, we went off to the hardware store and he went here and there picking up the necessary pieces to construct it. He wanted to start right away when we got home. I, however, chose to sit and knit. Not once did I touch the supplies except to help bring them inside. He did start immediately after we got home. He sawed pieces and drilled holes and less than two hours later, there was a working swift sitting on the floor.
It stands about two feet tall (I’m not exactly sure – it hasn’t ever occurred to me to measure it), and it spins. It has no handle, but that’s okay. I’m not even sure I would use a handle if it had one. Johnathan plans to make the arms adjustable later, but for a first try, the thing is absolutely wonderful. For approximately $15 in supplies and less than two hours of work, Johnathan built me a yarn swift. I’m proud of it, and I’m sure he is, too.
There was really only one problem with the swift after it was completed. I had no ball winder. So it would still take some time to wind into balls, and then they wouldn’t even be center-pull! Much to my delight, Johnathan said that I should order a ball winder, and like I do, I managed to get the free shipping from Knit Picks by adding a few yarns to the order. I mean, why not? Especially because they were from my wish list!
The swift is wonderful. I’m so glad I found the project, and even more glad that Johnathan viewed it as an interesting and worthy project on which to spend his time.
Tune in next time for the amazing conclusion: And Ball Winder Makes Fun!
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