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A swift is a tool used to hold a
hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...
of
yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
while it is being wound off (uncoiled from the hank and rewound in a form usable for knitting or crochet)."Swift." ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989. It has an adjustable diameter so that it can hold hanks of many sizes, and rotates around a central rod.Handwoven Magazine. "Weaving Terms." ''Weaving Resources.'' Interweave Press. March 1, 2008 . Developed in the United States, they are generally made out of wood or metal, though other materials may also be used. In the 18th and 19th centuries, swifts were sometimes made of whale ivoryOverview of Scrimshaw: The Whaler's Art
New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the "Old Dartmouth" region (now the city of New Bedford and ...
, January 15, 2011.
and they are now sought-after antiques. Swifts are not used very much in the textile industry but are used more by knitters and
crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...
ers who buy their yarn in hank form. The swift allows for easy balling without the yarn getting tangled and knotted.


Typology

A swift can be as simple as four rods fixed into an axis, with bands connecting them. By sliding the bands the effective diameter changes, for different sized hanks. However, most swifts are more complicated than this. The 'umbrella swift' is one of the more common varieties, the advantage of it being that it folds up when not in use. Wooden umbrella swifts are the most common type of swift in use. They are preferred by hand spinners because they fold up, which is good for storage, and they are generally more stable, of higher quality, and look nicer than metal umbrella swifts. Another type is the 'Amish style' swift, a rotating cross with positionable pegs to adjust for different diameters of hanks. A
spinners weasel Spinner's weasel or clock reel is a mechanical yarn-measuring device consisting of a spoked wheel with gears attached to a pointer on a marked face (which looks like a clock) and an internal mechanism which makes a "pop" sound after the desired ...
is similar to a swift, however it does not adjust to various sized hanks. While today this is a big disadvantage, as different manufacturers don't always make hanks the same size, it was not an issue when all yarn was hand spun. At this time hanks from one spinner would all be the same size, as they would have been made on the same
niddy noddy A niddy-noddy (plural niddy-noddies"Niddy-noddy." ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989.) is a tool used to make skeins from yarn. It consists of a central bar, with crossbars at each end, offset from each other by 90°. The central bar ...
, thus only one diameter was needed. File:Cecil Beaton Photographs - General, IB1793 - Bengali boy using a spinning wheel (India, 1944).jpg, A simple vertical-axis swift, for making multi-ply thread File:Woman spinning, Jaura, India.jpg, A horizontal-axis swift, the hank borne on a thread that zigzags between spokes File:"Motovilu" za navijanje volne, Viševek 1962.jpg, A horizontal-axis swift, the hank borne on horizontal dowels between spokes Spodnji Dolič, Jeseničnik, navijalo 1963.jpg, Vertical-axis swift made with a grown tripod base; note hole for adjusting circumference File:Arcolaio 1607.jpg, Illustration of a hydraulic spinner from ''Novo teatro di machine et edificii'' by
Vittorio Zonca Vittorio Zonca (1568–1603) was an Italian engineer and writer. He wrote the ''Theater of machines'', which was published in Padua in 1607 four years after his death. Some of his plates were translated into Chinese by Johann Schreck and publ ...
, 1607 File:"Garnpret", Paradišče 1949.jpg, A Slovenian swift File:Bergneustadt - Wallstraße1Museum in 14 ies.jpg, A spinner's weasel, with gearing for counting rotations and thus measuring length.


Common substitutes

In the modern day spinners' weasels are even less common than swifts. One substitute for a swift is to have someone else hold the hank.Breiter, Barbara; Diven, Gail
''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting Illustrated''.
2nd ed. Alpha Books, 2003. . Google Book Search. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.
This has several disadvantages however, first a willing second person has to be found, and secondly unless the other person has had a lot of practice holding hanks, the yarn winds off a swift much better. Yarn tends to catch on the hands and wristwatches of the person holding the hank, and a swift has neither hand nor watch to catch the yarn. Another common substitute is the back of a chair. The disadvantages of this is that the hank is not kept under tension, and thus the yarn has a tendency to get tangled, and one has to stop very often to untangle it.


Uses

Swifts are most commonly used to ball a
hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...
of
yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
. An increasing percentage of yarn is sold in hank form, especially hand dyed or hand spun yarns, which necessitates balling for knitters and
crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...
ers. Swifts are also sometimes used by
weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...
in preparing the
warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...
: if the yarn for the warp comes in a hank, the warp can be wound directly onto the warping board from the swift. As weaving yarns generally come on cones though, this use isn't as prevalent.


See also

*
Wrap reel A wrap reel or skein winder is a device for measuring yarn and making it into hanks of a standard size. The reel is of a standard size and its revolutions are counted as the yarn is wrapped around it. Typically, a set number of revolutions will be ...


References

{{commonscat, Yarn swifts Textile arts American inventions