My first FO* of 2025

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First a big Thank you! I’m truly grateful for all of you who take the time to read my blog and a extra thanks to those who leave comments. I do love to hear from you. One of my goals this year is to post at least once a week. Fingers crossed that I reach that each and every week! More on that on a later day…

…on to the post!

I finally finished the first Broken Seed Stitch sock! I powered through on New Year’s Day and grafted the toe together on January 2nd. I need to have daylight to do that when working with a dark yarn.

This is the “good” side. The blue is more prominent for some reason.

And this is the not-so-good side. That line is where the colors change. This side has more yellow and green.

I really like both the plain stockinette sole as well as the textured stitches on the foot section.

It looks like I might need to tighten up the stitches on the gusset as those bright yellow stitches seem so big! Or maybe I’ll just give them a good soak and blocking when I finish sock #2. I’m going to try to tighten the first few stitches on the color change rows to see if that helps make that seam less noticeable.

Sock #2 is already on the needles with the ribbing completed and the first 4-row pattern repeat finished. Here’s hoping the second sock will make this a pair before the end of the month.

*Finished Object

Patti nona

My yarn swift

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A yarn swift is a device that holds a hank of yarn fairly taut so one can wind it into a ball without creating a hot mess of tangles and knots. Usually I use my knees, an upside down patio table or Mr. Aitch’s arms as my yarn swift. Having a rotating mechanism is much easier.

Here are the parts of my swift.

Two arms 30-inches long that are notched in the center to fit together to make a cross. One hole is drilled into the center to hold the arms onto the base. Each arm has holes drilled partway through to hold the dowels that will eventually hold the yarn. A two-piece base. Two washers though one would work to make the arms rotate easily. Five 6-7 inch dowel rods.

The two base pieces notch together.

Next the washer(s), and the longer dowel.

These are the washers I used. I couldn’t find a large one with a hole that would fit my dowel. The smaller one fits inside the larger one perfectly so it won’t wobble when the arms turn.

The two arms lap together in the middle to make a cross and slide over the center dowel.

The four other dowels are pushed into the holes, one on each arm, to correspond with the size of the yarn hank.

I ground the ends of the dowels just a bit with a pencil sharpener so they would go into the holes easier.

Voila! I spent $10.68 on the wood and washers. After several hours of cutting, repeatedly plugging and unplugging my tools, and assembling, I got myself a yarn swift that when not in use, takes up very little space.

I had a short video of the swift in action but I couldn’t get it to load properly.

My next sewing project will be to make a drawstring bag to hold all the pieces.

Now if I had a woodworking shop and all the necessary tools, this would have looked more professional. In my dreams a band saw, drill press, table saw, chisel, and a router would be awesome. Instead I used a jigsaw, drill, coping saw, hack saw, Dremel tool, screwdriver, utility knife and sandpaper.

Here are the two videos I watched for the dimensions and demonstration from Cozy Corner Crochet.

If you want more details, just leave a comment.

Now, if I can make this, you can too!

Patti nona

I made one myself

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I mentioned earlier that I wanted a yarn swift. Mr. Aitch didn’t think so but he was reluctant to lend me his arms when I had a hank of yarn that needed to be in a ball.

I scoured the internet and found a site that gave me the basic details to make one for myself. This is an Amish style swift which is horizontal with few moving parts and not the umbrella style that looks like a torture device.

We don’t have all the fancy tools or a woodworking shop so you might be able to make one, too. The total cost was under $11. I can fill you in on all the details just as soon as the skies clear and I can get a decent picture.

Sing it with me….The sun will come out tomorrow….

Patti nona