Swift
Why, what's this, Chappy wants to know. It looks like it could be fun. Is it a stick? Something to chase??
Well . . . indirectly, I suppose . . .
I mean, it is made of wood, and you could chase it around in circles . . .
It's my new, handmade, mahogany swift, bought from Knitting Notions. It was swift, too, since I only placed this order at 11:04 on Friday night--it was shipped on Saturday, and even with yesterday's Federal holiday with no mail delivery, here it is, Tuesday, and it's here. Swift!
Naturally, I promptly tried it out, winding my leftover STR from my socks into a skein . . . Because, yes, it can be used both for winding off a skein into a ball, or for winding yarn into a skein. Gotta love the versatility, huh?
Will this completely replace my Majacraft Wheel Skeiner in my affections? Despite our differences of opinion, no, not necessarily. That's a little easier to rotate because of the vertical position and, you know, gravity, but this one seems not to have the, um, tensioning difficulties I was mentioning. I expect I'll probably use both.
The piece of equipment that should be shuddering in its clamp is the plastic umbrella swift . . . We haven't really been getting along lately, although to be fair, it's not that it's done anything wrong, exactly, just . . . I wanted something better . . .
Which, naturally, makes me happy . . . which is great, because today is the day Jessica is kicking off her Happy-Along. How can anyone resist that, huh?? The rules are so simple--either do something that makes you happy, or do something to make someone else happy.
Oh, and did I say "leftover STR" earlier??
All done! This is, of course, Socks That Rock in the "Harlotty" colorway, bought at Rhinebeck. (For which, thankfully, I did not have to stand on a three hour line. I very much enjoyed this yarn, though, and an delighted with the way the socks turned out. (And, good gracious, do they ever match my rug, huh?)
Lastly, go read what Scout and Jessalu have to say about this, and I'm just as appalled as they are. Scout, incidentally, is putting her money where her mouth is--if you make a donation to this poor teacher's defense fund, she'll enter you in a drawing for a $25 Scout's Swag gift certificate.
Chappy's all chuffed for his species today--not only did Velvet the Lab help save her family from freezing to death, but Lanea's dog helped save his fellow family member, too.
Meanwhile, he wants to know--does anybody want to play??
I'm liking the look of that swift! You'll have to let me know how it works as a skeiner. I've been looking a picking one up, but your experience with the Majacraft makes me a bit nervous. I'll have to check and see if Schacht makes one.
Posted by: Leah | February 20, 2007 at 10:28 PM
Very nice swift. Your socks are really pretty, but I am still resisting short row heels. Lastly, such a CUTE puppy picture! I hear Sis and Honey barking at the moment.
Posted by: Paula | February 20, 2007 at 11:21 PM
Hi Deb - Your e-mail to me got caught in my spam filter and I deleted it before I saw it was from someone I knew - argh! Can you re-send it?
xox, J
Posted by: Julia | February 21, 2007 at 12:37 AM
The new swift is really pretty. I'm glad you're pleased with it.
Posted by: Carole | February 21, 2007 at 06:40 AM
The Swift looks great, and I love your STR socks, they are fab. Chappy's looking as cute as ever!!!
Posted by: Tracy | February 21, 2007 at 08:49 AM
What a gorgeous swift!! Love the harlotty socks, too. :)
Posted by: Chris | February 21, 2007 at 09:41 AM
Love the new swift - and the socks! They look awesome - and so comfy :o)
Thanks for mentioning Julie's plight!
Posted by: Jess | February 21, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Love the skeiner and the socks. Definitely a few things to be happy about! :) Chappy is too cute as always.
Posted by: Jessica | February 21, 2007 at 03:15 PM
Nice looking swift! I like the fact that you can skein things up on it or "un" skeing them. I just have a regular wooden swift and I don't always want to use the niddy noddy for making skeins.
Posted by: Julie | February 21, 2007 at 03:16 PM
Cool stuff! The teacher thing? Not cool. You'd think people smart enough to write complicated code would be worlking (and making good $$ too) at something more interesting. Like a good job.
Love your Harlotty socks!
Posted by: Carol | February 21, 2007 at 06:17 PM
He sure did. Kayo the hero should be wearing a laurel wreath. But he doesn't like to wear anything more than a collar, and I guess I'll respect that for now.
Posted by: lanea | February 22, 2007 at 10:02 AM
Oh it's quite beautiful! You could really have fun and tie a biscuit to one arm and make Chappy chase it. Okay probably not my best idea.
Posted by: Rebekah | February 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM
Congrats on the new swift! It looks like a keeper. ;-)
The Harlotty socks turned out beautifully--that's a such a great colorway, isn't it?
Posted by: Beth S. | February 22, 2007 at 01:06 PM
The socks are gorgeous! Quick random question - I've been looking at your FO Shawl-collared Cable Sweater from a Dale pattern. Could you please email me & let me know what pattern book that is from? I'm on a cable cardigan kick right now!
Posted by: Anna | February 22, 2007 at 03:17 PM
don't you just looooove the swift??
I *heart* mine ohhh so much.
Posted by: Kelly | February 23, 2007 at 07:50 AM