One of the things I’m trying to do at the moment is to avoid buying new things if I can get something secondhand. The idea is that this will reduce my drain on the earth’s resources, help decrease the amount of stuff going to landfill and satisfy my needs.

So, the other day I stopped myself taking the easy option (when you have enough money) and simply ordering a wool winder and a swift from Loop’s knitting shop. Recent purchases of yarn have regularly been in the form of hanks and draping them around chair-legs and winding by hand is a bit of a pain – and very slow. Owning these two items makes the process much easier and quicker.

This is my swift

However, I reminded myself that I do have a swift, albeit a broken one. It’s actually an object that I have great sentimental attachment to because it was given to me by a very dear lady who taught me embroidery. She was quite a hoarder, but often passed on fabric, embroidery silk and other sewing-related things to me and my mum (I have a collection of beautiful mother of pearl buttons from her). She gave me the swift about 30 years ago and I know it was old then, so it must be an antique. Sadly she passed away a few years ago, but the swift remains with me.

The broken ‘arm’

Currently it’s held together with tape, but I plan to mend it with glue and fine twine, which I am hoping will give it many more years of (gentle) use. With all that trellis contraption, it’s no wonder that it’s got damaged. I’m pretty sure that it’s at least 60 years old and may be significantly older. It may even have been made by the husband of the lady who gave it to me as he was very good at woodwork. I’d be interested to know if anyone has seen one like it before. Anyway, whatever its history, it’s going to be put back into service soon.

A yarn winder

So, the swift was already in my possession, what about a ball winder? My mum used to have one, but it ended up in a charity shop, I think. I, therefore, used the power of social networking and appealed to my friends on Facebook to see if anyone had one they didn’t want. In the spirit of bartering, I offered a pair of hand knitted socks or crochet slippers in exchange. And within a couple of hours I had one person who thought her mum had one, one offer to order a secondhand one from e-bay in the US (only new ones on UK e-bay at the time) and one person who thought they had one and would look. After a brief pause, my friend Susan came up trumps – she had one in her loft and delivered it on Thursday (she only lives two miles away). In exchange she accepted a cup of tea and a homemade muffin… I even offered money but she wouldn’t take any.

My next job, therefore, is some repair work on the swift, and then I will be able to convert hanks (skeins) into balls as much as I like. Hurrah for reuse and repair!

Nearly ready to use!

Oh, and if a second winder does become available, another friend would also like one, so I can rehome that too!