Using a yard winder.

[twinfaye]

I think the swift is useful but the yarn winder is spiffy!! I HATE skeins that tangle and if I put the skein on the winder I get a flat bottomed ball with a center pull. I can sit the ball on my shelves and it sits steady. I don't know about the cones. Mine doesn't need them. My advice to anyone that is going to buy one check Ebay. I got both the swift and the winder for half the price from Ebay.

[crochetgal]

Isn't the swift wonderful?

I didn't have one for years, and solved the problem by putting two hard backed chairs back to back and putting the hank of yarn over the backs to hold it. Then it was just a matter of winding the yarn into a ball and then from the ball, using the winder to make a nice cake.

[Dsynr]

The neighbor of a pal passed on and her family did not have any use for her craft materials. They sold what they could and gave away the rest. My pal knew she would not have the time to use what they gave her and passed it on to me. Most of it was cones of cotton/cotton blends weaving and sewing thread and was very thin. I wound those threads together to make a yarn/thread the size I wanted and crocheted/knitted it into scarves, household decor stuff, wristwarmers, etc.

And YES, I wound those thousands of yards BY HAND. Then I read a post on KP that showed how to wind yarn using the hand mixer. I had to run it on very slow speed and stop frequently to keep from having broken threads, but it worked!

At the time I received this bounty, I was busy paying for very expensive dental work and could not afford to buy yarn/thread; so you can understand how happy this gift made me!

[Lynn E]

Thank you, Dsynr, for answering a question lurking in the back of my mind! There is a shop that has hundreds of those cones with thin thread. I'm going to pick up a few and try it out...using my "YARD" winder. I am sooo embarrassed by that typo I could just hide! And I told Landon I proofread everything...obviously NOT!

[bkaren6020]

Lynn E Where is the shop that has the cones? I will be in Ca soon, just wondering.

[Lynn E]

Santa Barbara, CA. ...nice little town. The shop's name is Random, 1207 State St. It's not a yarn shop...it's got all sorts of stuff. It's not a junk shop (I like those shops too )

[Dsynr]

Lynn, they still put erasers on pencils, don't they? We all make mistooks. I'm a Secretary in my non-crafting life and I not only make typos, I sometimes miss them when I proof. I don't proof thoroughtly when I'm posting; but if I see a typo, I can usually edit it out. I've got a few posts with missed errors, and if I can't be forgiven for rushing to get my thoughts on the screen, I apologize.
That said, I found winding different colors together made a "tweed" look when I knit and slashes and backslashes of different colors when I crochet.


Since I got a lot of black, almost all the "made" yarns have black in them.
Mixed with the yellowy orange, it made the spare roll cover, floor mat and curtains for the bathroom appear brown.
The throw for DD's bed has red in the mix, so it is sort of brownish with red flicks looking sort of like the sprinkles on ice cream. there are several bathcloths made from this combination as well.

The antimacassars and chair sets in the livingroom have no black and is a mix of these: aqua/very light blue/bright apple green/pale, washed-out looking grey/white and looks like a aqua-green tweed.

The hood and wristwarmers I made for myself: green/blue/yellow/black appear like tweed also.

I've gotten some other interesting combinations and I still have quite a bit of "made" yarn left.

TIP: To make it easier to catch typos, proofread BACKWARDS.

[twinfaye]

Dsynr, You just keep putting your thoughts down and I'll read what you are saying not what you write. There are all kinds of articles about typos where they intentionally mess up the words and our brains can read the words correctly becausse our brain sees the pattern of words. I wish I had one of those articles to show but some of you have seen it I am sure. We all support each other and we don't mind the mistakes.

[Lynn E]

AHA! Had I only known that proofreading tip during my stint as a clerk. Back in dark ages if you didn't know shorthand you didn't qualify to be a secretary. The first word processor (not a computer) in the office was a Wang. No auto save, no spell check...lotsa fun! LOL!

Ooh! Ooh! I have GOT to try the thread thing! Were you able to put a twist on all the threads being wound together? I've been toying with the idea of modifying a lazy susan. Maybe I'll just get a pottery wheel instead and while learning how to throw clay (lots of research before actually touching any clay) the wheel could be modified.

OMG! I just realized I'm an eccentric, 'still in the closet' inventor!

[Lynn E]

Hiya Faye! Well, 'ell...I had a senior moment there, couldn't remember what I wanted to tell you! Have you used Red Heart's Incredible yarn? Crochetgal had some and I couldn't resist ordering the color Candied. (She wrote that she loves being an "enabler"! What a brat! LOL!)

Anyhoo, I wanted to tell you I'm making another October CAL scarf using that yarn and it looks kinda cute! To finish it off I was thinking of putting a ruffled edge on it. Any suggestions on how to do a simple ruffled edge? I sure hope someone can help me out here or it's back to the drawing board!

Do I remember rightly you saying you like bells? Me too! They're hanging on each door and in couple of windows. Since no geese are allowed the bells are a good early warning substitute. [Jeez, where did that thought come from?]

TTYL