Wednesday 11 January 2012

An oldie but a goodie

Just before Christmas I'd been into our local antique shop to browse. I love looking at all the weird and wonderful things that are for sale. Let's face it, people collect all sorts of things!

*Cough* Not that I can say much really, I collect miniature tea sets. There you have it. I have 60-odd of them.

But it's not just about collecting stuff though, is it? In the modern world of flat-pack, plastic/particleboard objects, it's fun to be able to look at how things used to be done. How things used to be made is an eye-opening experience (how things are made, and what they're made from today is surely an eye-opening experience too, but not for this blog post!) Being able to wander into an antique store/secondhand shop can be inspiring, amusing, and educational.

When in our local antique shop before Christmas, I'd seen a swift (wool winder) for sale. I didn't buy it then, but today I went back into the store in the hope that the swift would be waiting for me. And waiting it was!

I was thrilled that it was still there (obviously it was waiting for me to take it home).

Wanna see it? These photos were taken before I gave it a bit of a clean.




I'd love to know more about the item - where was it made, who made it, how old is it, who has used it over the years, what did they make with the yarn they wound from it? So many questions! The base is made from Silky Oak, which makes it most likely Australian made.

I can't wait to use this to wind my newly dyed skeins of yarn. I'll be posting more about those shortly!

What do you think? Can you shed a light on any of my questions about my new winder?

2 comments:

  1. I've got one of those! Well, very like. I use it all the time. I like feeling the connection to some mysterious knitter of the past.

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  2. I like the way you phrase that - "mysterious knitter of the past". :-)

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