One Geek to Stitch Them All

Still here, back from a week of cat sitting. The cat loved my lap and I got a lot less knitting done than I thought I would. Mostly because really I had plans every night that week. Like every other week really.

Cute isn’t he?

Before I left I organized my stash in boxes.I totally FOUND MORE YARN all over the place. Yarn from  Smilies (that was supposed to be for the JLA scarf) Yarn a friend gave me.  Yarn that I have no idea what I bought it for…So totally more yarn than i thought I had but it fit into the two boxes, and I used the third smaller one as a notions box.

Now then back to the title of this post. I got a swift from The Knit shop on Etsy for $19.99 that sadly arrived the Monday after I left to go cat sitting. So I’ve finally opened it and used it to wind some Knit Picks Swish Bulky I had lying around.

It works really well is mostly smooth, (there was a bit of an edge on some of the the dowels, but as that part never gets to the yarn it was no big deal.  It also folds into a a very small easy to store size which is of the utmost importance in my rooms of diminishing space.

It came with a page of pictured instructions that were easy to follow and contact details, just incase you had further questions. All in all a great thing. That will be a god send when winding the next skein of 220 for the Lantern scarf. Which I really have to get back on. Hate is just languishing on the needl es at this point. I have a winder and a swift for $40! Woo.

knitting cat, tools, yarn

So I came home and lo and behold the Doorman has a package for me.

I did  little happy dance as I made my way upstairs to open the box.

So I got:

1) 2 sets of 60″ circular Options interchangeable needles.

2) Wood interchangeable needle tips in size 9.

3) Yarn Ball winder

4) Knitting new mittens and gloves

5) A hank of Bulky Super wash                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         yarn in Onyx.

So there it is the Knit Picks Winder for $19.95.  Of course I tried it out right away. It has a no brainer assembly, and I put it together before I even noticed that there were instructions on the side of the box. I have not yet made/purchased a swift so I just grabbed a hand rolled hank of white that I had lying around. And started to wind. To preface this I don’t wind all that often, I have used winders in stores, but each one was a bit different.

So how do I like the winder? I’m not sure, I used bulky yarn, the ball was rolling around, and I somehow lost the center pull.

That image is before I lost the center pull. I had to go slowly, as it would tend to wrap around the base of the the winder. The hand hold while a good idea, I may have to use the table clamp, so i have both hands, until i get used to it to keep all the yarn working the right way.

But I was able to to hold it between my legs as well. I’d also have to look around for a table that I can clamp to. Most here have weird edges and finishes. Possibly the counter in the kitchen.

But yay new yarn toy to play with while I organize the stash.

knitting knit picks, purchase, tools, yarn