I weave a lot of scarves in 100% rayon boucle with a cotton weft.  The wrapper on the hank suggests using the umbrella swift in a horizontal position (perpendicular to the floor) and winding the yarn into a ball (not using a ball winder).  Well, a ball winder is just so easy that I ignored that suggestion.  This yarn has a lot of energy and, at the slightest provocation, winds back on itself.  I recently spent far too much time winding separating strands - and winding it into a sphere.  But it took an awfully long time to wind an entire hank into a sphere...

So I attached the umbrella swift to the back of a desk chair, put the hank on the umbrella swift, and wound the warp from the umbrella swift.  Went very smoothly.  I tried different chairs to find the best height and was able to move the chair to get a good angle.  The umbrella swift would be a little more secure if the chair had square corners, but I can work with that. 

On the picture, the warp end being wound isn't very visible, but you can see the set-up. 

Comments

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 18:23

Erica

This is an interesting innovation! Thank you for sharing it with the Weavolution Community!

Regards,

Erica

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 23:42

Jerri S

Thanks for sharing this idea. Saves the time and angst you would have spent winding into a ball and then seperating strands! More time to design and weave. Brava! 

Sat, 09/21/2013 - 09:53

ReedGuy

I was wondering what the advantage of mounting the swift that way would be?

I wind wool from a swift all the time, but always upright. I'm guessing mounting the swift on the side like that allows easier winding as you go from the top to the bottom of your warping board. However, I have wound onto a vertical mill and have not encountered any troubles with the yarn catching the swift as the angle of the yarn coming from the swift to the mill changes.

Here's my swift.

Winding onto a pirn.

 

 

Sat, 09/21/2013 - 17:14

kfsuko (not verified)

I'm not sure why it's an advantage.  It was more "when all else fails, read directions."  IF the rayon boucle is over-twisted, maybe the perpendicular orientation does not add twist.  But I have no idea the number of twists-per-inch and/or whether winding direction changes TPI. 

Sat, 09/21/2013 - 18:47

ReedGuy

The swift is doing the turning and the yarn being pulled does not have any difference in twist. It's coming straight off the swift upright or horizontal. Running the yarn through your hands off the swift onto the board is liable to have far more twist effect. But not much even then because it was be friction,  and some tension mostly.