Yarn swift and ball winder in action

I’ve unboxed and tried out one of my early birthday presents – a yarn swift and ball winder sent from the United States. Believe it or not, I’ve been balling up yarn the old-fashioned way for years, and I recently thought it was high time I joined the 20th century (give me more time to shamble fully in to the 21st).

For the uninitiated, a yarn swift is a wooden (sometimes metal) gadget that holds an open skein of yarn, allowing it to spin and be wound into a ball, as you undoubtedly have guessed, with a ball winder. It’s by no means modern, but it is a real boon to yarnies everywhere.

PHOTOS: Yarn swift and ball winder giving me the gift of time: balling up a couple of skeins of Madeline Tosh merino sock yarn in color 290-Medieval, a stunning purple, and doing it in a fraction of the time it took before.

The yarn swift may just look like a bunch of colorful popsicle sticks strung together, but don’t be fooled. It’s a brilliant gadget that saves oodles of time turning twisted skeins into useable balls of yarn.

The video below shows it in action.

VIDEO: Yarn swift getting a slow start. I pick up the speed later, not to worry.

Thanks for checking in! I’ll post later with some news about an old project.

2 thoughts on “Yarn swift and ball winder in action”

It actually looks like a whole lot of fun but sadly I rarely by skeins, usually balls, otherwise I’d invest in one. I have a patient hubby who on the rare occasion is happy to sit opposite me with hands a foot apart, holding a skein whilst I unwind yarn into a ball. He had no idea what was happening the first time I asked him to ‘just hold this awhile, will you’ !!!

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