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December 1, 2009 11:24 PM Subscribe
Please help me fix my yarn swift or help me decide on which brand to replace it with.
My father just bought me an antique walnut yarn swift and while it is a bit squeaky, it does the job pretty well... up until the hand-made walnut screw split the wooden "adjustable" ring that holds up the swift. Now I have to have my poor husband hold up the swift whilst I spin my yarn. Obviously this is not an ideal situation, so two questions, I suppose:
(1) Is there a way to fix the original wood adjuster? It split just enough that when one tightens the screw, the weight of the yarn on the swift causes it to collapse and makes my yarn to fall off. When it was bought, the antique dealer claimed that it was possibly Shaker in origin, so I conservatively estimate it to be 1800's-ish. Very old and squeaky. I am still able to wind yarn on it, but, like I mentioned before, it currently can't be tightened enough to keep from collapsing.
(2) If the adjuster is not salvageable, is there any particular brand of swift that's better than others? Amazon seems to have a pretty good selection, but I'm just not sure what to go with. I've heard that swifts that are connected by string at their joints are ideal because they are easily replaceable should they fray and break. Any input my fellow knitters have is greatly appreciated!
My father just bought me an antique walnut yarn swift and while it is a bit squeaky, it does the job pretty well... up until the hand-made walnut screw split the wooden "adjustable" ring that holds up the swift. Now I have to have my poor husband hold up the swift whilst I spin my yarn. Obviously this is not an ideal situation, so two questions, I suppose:
(1) Is there a way to fix the original wood adjuster? It split just enough that when one tightens the screw, the weight of the yarn on the swift causes it to collapse and makes my yarn to fall off. When it was bought, the antique dealer claimed that it was possibly Shaker in origin, so I conservatively estimate it to be 1800's-ish. Very old and squeaky. I am still able to wind yarn on it, but, like I mentioned before, it currently can't be tightened enough to keep from collapsing.
(2) If the adjuster is not salvageable, is there any particular brand of swift that's better than others? Amazon seems to have a pretty good selection, but I'm just not sure what to go with. I've heard that swifts that are connected by string at their joints are ideal because they are easily replaceable should they fray and break. Any input my fellow knitters have is greatly appreciated!
If this is a wood swift, it was probably expensive. I suspect the folks who sold it to your father would be happy to get your part repaired, or replace the whole thing.
Let your father know what has happened so you can contact the seller or manufacturer.
I work in a yarn shop, in my experience, the folks who make knitting gear do a great job of standing behind their products.
posted by bilabial at 5:29 AM on December 2, 2009
Let your father know what has happened so you can contact the seller or manufacturer.
I work in a yarn shop, in my experience, the folks who make knitting gear do a great job of standing behind their products.
posted by bilabial at 5:29 AM on December 2, 2009
My wife is an avid knitter, I am an amateur woodworker, and I have plans (in my head) to make her a swift, but I haven't yet had a chance.
Pictures would help, but there are a few possibilities:
1. As jon1270 mentioned, it might be possible to glue it.
2. It might be possible to have a woodworker friend/family member make a replacement. If I understand which piece you're talking about correctly, it's the small ring at the bottom that lets you adjust the diameter of swift to match the skein. In that case, the broken piece is basically just a ring with a screw hole, with that walnut screw serving a a setscrew. That's not hard to make if it comes off, which depends, of course, on how the swift comes apart.
3. A small c-clamp could probably be used (instead of your husband) as a temporary fix.
4. If you can fix this, you might see if you can clean/oil the wood a bit to reduce squeakiness, increasingly the lifespan of your swift and making it more pleasant to wind or ball yarn. The squeakiness means there's probably a significant amount of tension on the yarn, which can affect the quality of the balls you wind. Reducing wood-wood rubbing (perhaps with metal washers if you can do this without ruining the appearance of the swift) might be worthwhile.
5. bilabial's comments are certainly true of contemporary products, but shakers from 130 years ago probably can no longer stand behind their product.
posted by JMOZ at 5:38 AM on December 2, 2009
Pictures would help, but there are a few possibilities:
1. As jon1270 mentioned, it might be possible to glue it.
2. It might be possible to have a woodworker friend/family member make a replacement. If I understand which piece you're talking about correctly, it's the small ring at the bottom that lets you adjust the diameter of swift to match the skein. In that case, the broken piece is basically just a ring with a screw hole, with that walnut screw serving a a setscrew. That's not hard to make if it comes off, which depends, of course, on how the swift comes apart.
3. A small c-clamp could probably be used (instead of your husband) as a temporary fix.
4. If you can fix this, you might see if you can clean/oil the wood a bit to reduce squeakiness, increasingly the lifespan of your swift and making it more pleasant to wind or ball yarn. The squeakiness means there's probably a significant amount of tension on the yarn, which can affect the quality of the balls you wind. Reducing wood-wood rubbing (perhaps with metal washers if you can do this without ruining the appearance of the swift) might be worthwhile.
5. bilabial's comments are certainly true of contemporary products, but shakers from 130 years ago probably can no longer stand behind their product.
posted by JMOZ at 5:38 AM on December 2, 2009
Oh, and one other comment- if it's all original, you might wish to retire it (and use it for decoration) and buy a wooden swift. I think most of the wooden ones are similar in quality, but ask at your local knitting store. You might also consider whether you prefer an umbrella swift of a skeinwinder. My wife currently uses a Will Taylor Skeinwinder I bought her, and it's fantastic, but I *do* have plans to make a swift for her as well.
(I bought her the skeinwinder because I spin (on occasion), and it's much easier for winding skeins than a swift).
posted by JMOZ at 5:49 AM on December 2, 2009
(I bought her the skeinwinder because I spin (on occasion), and it's much easier for winding skeins than a swift).
posted by JMOZ at 5:49 AM on December 2, 2009
Oh. I missed the part about this coming from an antique dealer.
In that case,I don't think this is a home repair job. Contact the dealer and see if they have a woodworker to speak highly of.
posted by bilabial at 6:01 AM on December 2, 2009
In that case,I don't think this is a home repair job. Contact the dealer and see if they have a woodworker to speak highly of.
posted by bilabial at 6:01 AM on December 2, 2009
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It's likely that the broken part can be reglued. If the crack is small then it can be difficult to force enough glue into the joint; sometimes it's necessary to completely break a part into 2 pieces so that loose wood fibers can be cleaned up and glue can easily be applied. It's also important to apply enough clamping pressure (while the glue dries) to bring the joint tightly together, but not so much that you deform the delicate part or cause it to crack again elsewhere. It takes a bit of finesse.
You might also be able to remove the ring from the swift and have someone with a wood lathe turn you a new one.
posted by jon1270 at 2:49 AM on December 2, 2009