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*

Swift Pics & Yarn Dyeing

At last, as promised, yarn swift pics. Woohoo.

My darling husband Paul built the swifts for me.

Detail:

The sweet thing is that they are fully collapsible. The cross pieces come apart. They detach from the upright as well. So they take up a lot less space when not in use. Very nice.

Paul built me two swifts in hopes I could use them for creating a long skein. However, I am not sure it will work for that. I tried and it didn't seem to work correctly.

The long skein on the two swifts had the same issues I had when I did the two chair method. If you pull the yarn too tight, it is stretching it. If it is too loose, it is longer than the pieces around it. So it isn't even overall. There are some parts that hang down longer than others.

I found that meant that the pattern in the socks were different in different areas which was a problem with the self-patterning. Not a deal breaker by any means, but it did have some problems when I knit the Bruise socks.

I will probably try using them for reskeining dyed yarn sometime though. I heard it can work well with dyed skeins. Though I can only see the point of reskeining if I decide to sell the yarn. And I don't really see that happening. But I never say never.

Still, the single swift is great for skeining and unskeining the yarn. The cross pieces are about 4 feet long. The holes are an inch apart. So it is very adjustable. It can range from a small skein to a very large one.

It also worked well for creating a skein. I wound the yarn on it from the smaller skein to get a larger one. That seems to have gone pretty well.

I do admit, there are some modifications that need to be made still. I definitely want ends on the posts so the yarn doesn't slip off. I am thinking some wood door pulls glued to the end would work well.

Paul also suggested something about drilling through and having a piece at the back so they won't come out. Not sure how that will work exactly. They can be a bit loose and slide out sometimes.

The materials for the two swifts ran about $30. Not bad at all. The holes are about an inch apart. So it is very adjustable. Pretty cool.

I used the swift with the ball winder with my Schaefer Lola & the massive 8 oz skein of the Peruvian alpaca. They both worked really well. So much easier and quicker than wrapping it around something and doing it by hand. Pretty thrilled.

The yarn on the skein is Sarah Yarns 100% bamboo yarn. It started in the natural color. I used the Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes on it. I used the forest green. But I also mixed two other greens. I added some Azure Blue patches as well.

I should have taken some close ups of the yarn. I will try to remember to take some pics of the yarn when I get home. Though I did already make it into balls so it won't show all the colors.

I dyed this batch for my sister-in-law Jennifer. I am hoping to make her socks for Xmas. But if not, maybe her birthday. Or there is always next Xmas. *laugh* I figure we will see when they get done.

I *have* to find a better way to reskein/make balls out of the dyed yarn. This skein wasn't a long one. Still, it was super tangled in spots. I had to wind the balls by hand in order to untangle it. Took two hours to detangle it and make it into balls. *sigh* I can't think that is normal.

I do think part of it is about the fact that I tied all the skeins together. In future, I really need to separate each skein from each other. I think that should help with the tangling issues. I am sincerely hoping that will resolve it.

I got so frustrated with the tangles yesterday I was thinking about just giving up on dyeing. It is sad because I really do love the way the yarns come out when I dye them. It is so delightful being able to dye them and knit the yarn. It really is great. But the tangles are driving me batty. Got so pissy about it yesterday that I yelled at Paul. I apologized about a dozen times. But still. Not good. (Mind you, it was also the nasty PMS demon taking me over as well.)

I really do love the way the yarn looks. It is so wonderful the colorways I can create. And having it in yarns I like.

Though given I can probably wear some superwash wools, the dyeing issue isn't as critical. But I would still really like to do it. So I am hoping to figure out what to do better next time.