Thursday, December 26, 2013

The One Were I Admit I Am Not So Clever...





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*

Monday, December 2, 2013

KAL - Two Socks in a Week

I can't believe it has been 11 months since I posted here!!  *shakes head*  You should see the amount of posts I started & never finished.  Or maybe you really shouldn't...  *blush*

I will keep this short to make sure it actually gets posted!

The wonderful woman who taught me to knit, posted about a KAL in her blog.
http://www.motherhoodispainless.com/2013/11/knit-along-with-k-line.html

The KAL post is here:
http://line4line.blogspot.com/2013/11/two-socks-one-week-lets-do-this-thing.html

Project Week runs from Dec. 29 - Jan 5.  Though as the author points out, that is in fact 8 days.  Works for me.

I am terribly sad as three pairs of socks have died on me within the past two months!  Two were out of Tri'Cotrie.  So while I adore her yarn, I think that any remaining TriC yarn will not go anywhere near my feet.  *sigh*

Last winter I had at least two other pairs of socks die.  So I desperately need socks. 

I have a pair on the needles along with a sweater for DH & fingerless mitts for me.  The home office is frigid!  I need them most of all.  And DH's sweater is from *last year's* goals!  *laugh*

Worth trying to bang out a pair!

(Edited to add active links.  Kinda thought posting it would do that!)