Once upon a time, I wound every skein of yarn I purchased into balls by hand. And while this was fine for, say, a skein of dk-weight wool, it was practically impossible to deal with an 800-yard skein of laceweight. To wind in into a ball, I had to place the untwisted skein of yarn over my knees, and carefully unwind a yard or so at a time. I couldn't get up for any reason during this process, or my skein would, of course, become irrevocably twisted and knotted. And winding an 800-yard laceweight skein would take hours.
This was the way of my world for many years, and I never thought about it, since I was not about to plunk down $90 for an umbrella swift.
My world has changed:
A belated birthday present from my parents. My dad, the woodworker extraordinaire, made this for me, and I could not be happier! It's gorgeous, it spins like a dream, and now, in the middle of unwinding a skein, I can go to the bathroom!
Freedom!
