On the subject of swifts

[pensnest]

My birthday is approaching, and my Beast is looking into buying me a swift, for he is a good Beast. However, he doesn't know anything about swifts, and I don't know much more, so I wonder if anyone here might have some advice?

I'm more of a dk/aran knitter than a lace knitter, so presumably I'll need something reasonably sturdy. Beyond that, we neither of us really know what to look for. Are there any recommended brands or styles? Any that we should avoid? Is having the arms tied together with string a good thing or a bad one?

We're in the UK, and it would seem sensible to order one in this country rather than on the other side of the Atlantic, but even so, examples of the ideal would at least give us something to look at!

Comments

[pinesandmaples]

I have a very functional, solid Glimakra of Sweden umbrella swift that does quite nicely for the price. There should be retailers (and etailers) in the UK selling them at a good price, too.

Would I be purchasing with an unlimited budget, I'd be buying a custom-finished squirrel cage swift to match my wheel. But that's future planning, not present reality.

[pensnest]

I've passed this brand name on to Beast to investigate—thank you!

A 'squirrel cage' swift? Hm... very interesting images on Google. I didn't know there were such things.

[starfish]

I have what's commonly called an umbrella swift, mine is from here but they are available all over. I have wound all weights of yarn on it, from super-bulky to lace, with few problems. (Occasionally if the peg holding the arms up isn't tight enough, it can slide down and collapse the arms. You learn to tighten it pretty quickly.) I imagine that possibly one day the cord that ties it together might give out, but I am confident I can replace it, so that's not an issue for me. It folds up pretty small for storage, which is nice.

There are also table-top swifts, which a friend of mine has. She made hers from a lazy-susan and some scrap wood and dowels, but you can buy one, too. Here is one on Amazon. I would say to look for something that can be disassembled for storage, unless you have a large area of table you're not using.

In both cases, watch out for rough wood that can snag your yarn, and for ease of motion as it turns. Happy winding!

[laughingrat]

I'd recommend a swift like this, too. One got me through five years of running a dye biz and is still in great shape. The cords at the joints do come loose sometimes, but can just be tied back up again. :)

[pensnest]

Good to know - thanks! I've shown all these comments to Beast and left him to make a Sound Decision so that I can have a surprise on my birthday.

[pensnest]

I didn't know about table-top swifts, so Beast and I had a look for some of those, too. I'm leaving the final decision to him, but at least he has Useful Opinions and some interesting choices. Thank you!

[rainne]

I just bought that exact swift (the Amish-style one). It came yesterday and it's quite sturdy and works very well.

[woolychicken]

I have what starfish refers to as a table top swift. I really love it. Much more sturdy than an umbrella swift. You can get everything from very simple peg ones to freestanding huge ones.

I don't seem to have any action shots since I use it in the basement where the light isn't good, but you can see it hanging on the wall in the booth I bought it from here:


It is also common to find antique ones here and I am thinking of making one modelled after them someday.

You can see one on a stand here and also the edge of another style.


The other kind has big pegs and looks reallly sturdy.

[adonnchaid]

Actually, the last "swift" picture (vertical implement, front left)(and the same thing seen in the right edge of the second pic) is a clock reel, which is used for creating skeins of yarn of a specific length. Yarn from cones or balls, or from spinning wheel spindles is wound around the clock reel, creating the skein, and the clock mechanism "clicks" when the finished length is wound.

[woolychicken]

Ah cool, thank you! The label on them only said yarn swift and did not give any further info. Now I know why I was having trouble finding out more about them :-)

[pensnest]

I must say, I do like the look of the table top swifts - they seem (arguably) more 'me', somehow. Thanks for the pictures!

[woolychicken]

Yeah, the umbrella style just seemed too flimsy for me!

It depends what you are doing too though. I spin so when I wind my yarn into skeins I am always using the same niddy noddy and I don't really have anything odd sized. The only advantage I could see to the umbrella style is that they can handle weird sizes, but those are not very common IME. I have been able to deal with any by simply moving one or two pegs in or out instead and it still turned fine.

[adonnchaid]

The other replies pretty much said what I'd say -- a good umbrella swift can be had for a reasonable price. You asked about the string ties, and that's a fairly standard construction for swifts. If you use it a huge amount, eventually (as in, after years) the string will wear out and you'll have to get some string and fix the broken one, but that's not a big deal.

To find some to look at in retail stores, I'd recommend finding a weaver's shop rather than a knitter's shop, they tend to carry more of the tool related stuff.

[pensnest]

I wondered if the string ties were (a) unreliable or (b) a really practical way to make sure repairs are easy. It sounds as though they are no problem, at all events. Thanks for the info, which I have passed along to Beast.

[aunty_marion]

IKnit have both wooden umbrella swifts and a slightly cheaper metal one, which is what I have, as it also has a tilt mechanism, so it doesn't have to be clamped only to a horizontal surface. I clamp mine to the back of a chair, and my yarn winder is on a corner of the table.

Let's see ... Ah yes. This is the page - scroll down to the bottom. It says the metal ones are out of stock, but you'd need to contact the shop to check that, as the web page may not have been updated to reflect actual stock.

Nest, in Crouch End, North London (my local LYS!) also has the wooden umbrella swifts; it's a penny cheaper there than at IKnit!

You should be able to get one similar from most good knitting shops, and many online retailers too. Get Knitted in Bristol, for instance, is another good one.

[pensnest]

Thanks for the information - and sorry for the belated reply. I've passed it along to Beast, and will wait and see what he produces for me. :-) I think he'd found some swifts that could be clamped for horizontal instead of vertical alignment, so we'd wondered about attaching one to a chair.

[alias]

I have a Sunflower Swift which I bought from Purlescence 18 months ago, and which I love to bits.

[pensnest]

Another one to follow up - thank you.

[squirelawrence]

I've had the metal and wooden umbrella swifts, an oak tabletop swift, a squirrel cage swift, and a Goku Japanese swift. About the only one I wouldn't recommend is the Goku - just couldn't get it to work. After trying all the others, I keep coming back to my Schacht wooden umbrella swift. I like the tabletop swift fine, but because it's heavier it was slightly more inconvenient to deal with when the yarn tangles. Of course, your mileage may vary.

If I had an unlimited budget and more space, though, I'd probably splurge on the Struach floor swift, which is just a lovely piece of work.

http://strauchfiber.com/swifts.php

[pensnest]

Oh, that Struach swift is a beautiful object in itself, isn't it! It sounds as though if we stick with any of the usual options, I should be fine. Thanks!