Today was a "free" day for my daughter and me. We finished school last Friday and decided that today we would only do things we wanted to do. That didn't work out quite the way we intended because I had to go to the doctor for my poison ivy. But, we'll go out for lunch and do some shopping tomorrow.
One thing we did do today was dye yarn with PAAS Easter Egg Dye. We used Patons Classic Merino in Winter White and Natural Mix. We were going for a purple color and the theory was that using the two different colors to begin with would yield coordinating yarns. It worked. But, unfortunately the yarn didn't dye evenly. This was partially due to the fact that the bits of yarn holding the skeins was a little too tight. This yarn will most likely be used for a felted bag in July for Project Spectrum, so the uneven dye job won't bother me too much.
This dyeing and the sweater recycling I've been doing makes me want a swift and ball winder even more than I did before. A friend of mine that used to work in a yarn shop recommended that I get a metal swift, but I've noticed that several of you have wooden ones. Have they worked well for you? I'm tempted to order a swift and a ball winder from Joann.com, but I don't want to waste money if they don't work well. Maybe buying them from a LYS would be a better investment. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
We have the wood swift (from Joanns) and it works great. It is also the same as the one our LYS uses. and, being wood - it almost looks like art! We leave our out, clamped to one of my office bookcases, all the time!
Posted by: Lynda | May 16, 2006 at 01:48 AM
I have a wooden swift...I waited and waited and bid and bid again on ones on Ebay. Got mine for $45 with shipping and it is WONDERFUL! Might be worth checking out.
Posted by: Estella | May 16, 2006 at 07:26 AM
Beth, I also have the wood swift from Joann.com. I waited till there was a 50% off online coupon, and bought it then (it ended up being $29.99!). It's beautiful (it's made by Lacis, who are very well-respected in the lacemaking community--I know this from my tatting days). It's super-smooth and sturdy, and like Lynda said, almost a work of art. I have to put mine up so DJ won't play with it, but I might be tempted to leave it out otherwise. It's really great, and I recommend it without reservation.
I got my ballwinder from KnitPicks, also at a discount, but not as much of a discount as the swift. It's the same old blue and white Royal ballwinder that everyone uses.
Love your purple yarn, btw! And I'm sorry about the poison ivy. Been a while since I had any, and I don't want to repeat that.
Posted by: katie | May 16, 2006 at 03:00 PM
I have a woodswift that is not an umbrella swift. It is flat with adjustable pegs. I like it..but it sits flat on the floor or on a table. I usually set it up on the floor with my ball winder attached to my couch arm (futon) and wind away. The only problem is the cat thinks it is a fun game and sits and watches it intently and occassionally swipes at it. They were the best Christmas gifts ever!
Posted by: Amy | May 16, 2006 at 03:23 PM
Oouuuucchhhh...poison ivy. Ive only had this displeasure once in my life and that was plenty...Hope its on the way out, the only thing that helped me was calamine lotion, relief for at least a few hours. Amazing what that little innocent looking plant can do.
Take care Beth, BFN, G :)
Posted by: Geraldine | May 17, 2006 at 10:38 AM