My DH is awesome. He
made me a warping board & large swifts back when I was dyeing yarns. He is pretty nifty. And he really tries to get me presents I
really want.
But since the Littles came into the picture, half the time
we have skipped presents for each other.
The kids come first.
This year, it happened he was able to splurge this
Christmas. And he knew what a headache I
had been having with ball winders. I
have three since I started knitting.
Frustrating. Mind you, none were
over $25, but still.
The first one I snapped the piece off because the yarn
caught & when I tried to pull it, the piece pulled off, snapping part of
the base where it attaches. Then I tried
a Knit Picks one. Again, just seemed to
wrap super tight. I had the center piece
pop off. Also, the loop for the yarn
moved all over the place. I complained
to Knit Picks and they were super & sent me a new one.
However, I had similar issues. I was so fed up with it. I tried unwinding the yarn from the
swift. Tried to get it to behave. But I nearly always ended up with wonky balls
with threads on the top & bottom. I
just figured it was something I was doing.
So when DH offered to get them the Strauch wooden ball winder, I was beyond thrilled. They are pricey, but built to last longer than I am! *grin* So I opened it on Christmas Day. Such a happy camper.
So I pulled some yarn from the stash & went to winding
it. It is some beautiful String Theory
on their discounted SW wool/bamboo base.
So yummy.
And what should happen?
It was pulling. It was snagging
around the top and bottom. The usual
issues. With a high end ball winder.
So I figured the issue was something I was doing with my
winding. I really thought the ball
winder was just supposed to do all the work.
So clearly, there must be more to it.
Hit YouTube. Multiple
videos later, I realized that in fact I was doing things right. So what was the issue?
The swift!
It is a good, solid wood swift. I paid about $50 for it which is a good deal
for a wooden swift. But clearly it
wasn't spinning with the ease it should be.
When a video is showing a plastic one that is working beautifully with a
plastic ball winder...there is an issue.
I love the internet.
After some searching I found this:
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=50453
Clearly I was not alone with my swift issue. And luckily others had figured out a
solution.
A can of Liquid Gold later, so somewhere around $2-3 later, I
have a swift that moves without sticking much.
There is still a bit of grab in it, but the difference is stunning. Two beautifully wound balls later, I am
feeling both very happy and very silly.
I really thought that the turning being stiff was normal for
the swift. Not like I had a lot of
experience. But I am feeling very
sheepish after destroying multiple ball winders. *sigh*
On the happy side, I should now be able to wind nearly any
yarn without resorting to language that could make a sailor blush. So I shouldn't have to resort to waiting til
night and the kids are asleep to attempt winding yarn. *laugh*
I am posting this now.
Wanted to talk about the sock challenge.
But I figure if I start, I won't get this posted in the next week. *grin*
