PVC Swift/Skeiner
So I’ve been eyeing a skeiner for a while. Babe’s sell one for $35, which isn’t bad. But I wanted it to be free standing, and I also wanted it to function as a swift too. So in comes DIY.
My hubby is a seasoned PVC builder. He grew up playing boffer and and built numerous weapons. So I asked him to help, and when I showed him what I wanted, he said, “Oh! That’s ridiculously simple.” Whee!
We spent about $10 at home depot for the materials, and an additional $8 for a PVC cutter to make it easier. I’ve used it a few times already, and I absolutely love it. Check it out
The arms are adjustable to fit skeins up to 2 yards. It functions both as a skeiner and a swift. When I use it as a skeiner, the extra arm in the middle is the handle I use to crank it around. The cup hooks at the base helps to feed the yarn in to the skeiner – useful when I’m winding from a cone into a skein. When using it as a swift, I take the middle arm out to make it more balanced. It spins more freely that way.
I’m thinking of writing up a tutorial to build this, since it was really easy and cheap, and I think it works great. Anyone interested?
Edited to add: Tutorial now available! Check it out here.
Celeste replied:
This is awesome and I’d love to see a tutorial. My DH could build me one. Kudos to your DH.
April 5, 2008 at 23:29. Permalink.
Pauline replied:
I’m interested in the tutorial. Please write one. Thanks.
April 6, 2008 at 18:00. Permalink.
Beata replied:
Thanks for the interest. I’m going to try to put one together soon and post it up!
April 6, 2008 at 23:51. Permalink.
Amanda replied:
Oh…brilliant! I’d love a tutorial. My DH built me a wooden swift and I promptly busted it up while walking it into a wall. I think PVC is a little more my speed!
April 17, 2008 at 21:07. Permalink.
PVC Swift/Skeiner tutorial « A Book and Some Yarn replied:
[...] Swift/Skeiner tutorial Jump to Comments I finally did it! Remember the PVC Swift/Skeiner I talked about around a month ago? The tutorial is [...]
April 29, 2008 at 3:06. Permalink.
Charlotte P. Swift « Handknits by Susan replied:
[...] like to first thank Beata for posting such a great tutorial on her blog. THANK [...]
July 12, 2008 at 19:29. Permalink.
PVC Swift/Skeiner tutorial « A Book and Some Yarn replied:
[...] finally did it! Remember the PVC Swift/Skeiner I talked about around a month [...]
February 27, 2009 at 0:27. Permalink.
Ginny replied:
Nifty Swift!
So i had the same basic idea for a vertical swift but when I went to Home Depot looking for a 5 way tube for mine the guy looked at me like had spiders coming out of my ears. I made the wind mill part and just used it horizontal for a while. It worked okay but mine is 5.5 feet across and takes up all the space in the room while i’m using it. The swift can be seen in action on my blog, I put a video up.
So I went out to Google (wonderful place) and looked for ideas on how to make mine vertical and found your tutorial. Very nice. All the things I was looking for. So I used most of your base and arm idea and i just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the idea. Mine is 8.5 feet tall. Perfect for making huge loops to dye yarn with.
Thanks again,
Ginny
January 30, 2010 at 20:11. Permalink.