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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Niddy Noddy vs. Swift....

A swift can be a niddy noddy, but a niddy noddy can't be a swift....I know that you are saying, "Who cares?".

Since I am going to be using my swift/niddy noddy for the next couple of hours, I am very happy that it is a swift and not only a niddy noddy.

I treated myself to a trip to Pearl's yarn shop this morning for a few last minute skeins of sock yarn....Yup. Maybe for Christmas socks....At least that's the excuse that I used. They could also be for me if I don't finish them by Christmas.

I am usually madly knitting the night before Christmas, so who knows?

Of course, Tessie set out to claim all three skeins for herself. I keep trying to tell her that they are too thick to make things for her. She never wants to hear that.

OK. Back to the swift/niddy noddy controversy. The photo at the left is a swift. It holds your skein of yarn and spins it whilst you wind the yarn into a ball. But! It can also be a niddy noddy that holds the yarn and measures it at the same time. The arms accordion in and out and the wooden spindle in the center holds it to one position. You can set it so that it measures a certain distance around and thus count the length of the thread.

The niddy noddy is a long rod with two opposing cross bars on each end. Usually one turn around the ends of the bars measures one or two yards. It doesn't spin and you have to hold it. Awkward. So now you can go and tell all of your friends the difference and bore them to death.

Anyway, Since I already knew from the label that each of the skeins measures over 400 yards long, I also know that I am going to be spinning the swift until I am dizzy.

Tessie thinks it's the greatest tool that I have. She loves to ride on one of the bars. Did I mention the getting dizzy part? Maybe in her case I should say getting dizzier....

I have two swifts. This one sits in a weighted stand directly on the table top. The other one clamps to the edge of the table. I use them both, depending on my mood. I looked on the net this morning. These are now going for about $75.00! No! I didn't pay the price. Here in Tucson, workers at thrift stores have no idea what these strange looking things are or what they do. I got each of them for under five dollars. Both times, the checkout girl gave me an odd look and asked what the thing was and why did I want it.

The same thing happened with the ball winder....I got it for two bucks and as I walked around the store with it, several customers asked what it was. I don't think that they make this type anymore. The ones that they have on the net are mostly plastic with metal parts here and there. They are about $40.00.

I have to pull Tessie off of this one. She keeps trying to jump rope with it as I wind.

I have the ball of Navajo Dawn wound....That means that I only have about 800 yards left to wind. Wish me luck.

I will either have it wound about 3:00 PM or I will be wrapped in thread like a mummy from the backlash of the swift.....

See you tomorrow.

5 comments:

Lucille said...

I'm not an experienced knitter like you, but everytime I knit something, I never rewind. I just knit from the ball as it is. You certainly have a lot of patience. But, perhaps if I had this kind of equipment, I might rewind. I read somewhere to put our ball of yarn in a jar and make a hole in the cover to make the yarn flow smoothly. I must try this one of these days.

Caseymini said...

Lucille, It isn't necessary to rewind balls that come in a pull out skein or ball already. I never do.

This stuff is kind of like when I dye crochet thread for mini wicker. They unwind the yarn and put it in a hank for dying. It is like you see it on the swift and tied in four places. Then they dye it and simply twist it up for selling. Most yarn shops will wind it for you if you don't have the equipment to do it yourself. It is impossible to knit from a hank of yarn like this without rewinding it into the original ball.

Chelle said...

I have a niddy noddy! and I didn't know it, at least the name.As a knitter ( or is that a knutter, LOL) I've always knitted with the yarn from the centre of the ball,but sometimes that isn't the case, so I re-wound the balls of wool on my niddy noddy! I love that word!!

Kathi said...

Fascinating. Know I know! No, I don't knit. It's just nice to know these things. You know, just in case anyone asks....

dolodd said...

I absolutely love your blog. Follow it regularly and which I could just set things aside to create some of the things you have done. Lots of ideas. Thank you for sharing.