Stanwood Needlecraft Wooden Umbrella Swift - Medium

My first time purchasing an umbrella swift couldn’t be more pleased. It portable which makes it easy to transport it from the house to the camper. It fold up easily so it doesn’t take up much space in our camper. It works great and amazingly.

I posted pics if you want to see more: This is my first swift and I really like it. Its well built. Its smooth. It folds down compactly. It turns smoothly for the most part, 99% smoothly. From what I have read and been told it will get smoother and smoother as you use it. I emailed the company for advice and Ryan said to add a little wax so that is what I will do. It DOES turn smoothly just to be clear- i just prefer looser-ish balls of yarn. There is only 1 yarn shop so far that does them how i LOVE but i buy my yarn from all over so they dont wind my yarn. If you are having trouble just give it a second and as you get the momentum going it rolls along nicely. The other thing i noticed was the opening to put it on the table- if you have a lot of ikea furniture (THICK) you may need to file the opening down a touch for it to fit or just find another smaller surface to attach it. As far as the size you may need..so far this has done the trick. I grabbed the longest skein i had and figured it would be too big in its circumference and it fit. This is a great buy. Update- i updated from 4 stars to 5 because i added the wax as suggested by the company and i found a happy medium on my winding speed. Not too fast, not too slow..just wind it comfortably and the swift will keep up nicely to give you a great yarn cake.

This is the first yarn swift I’ve ever had and I’m very pleased with it. It’s easy to set up and use. It’s sturdy and works flawlessly. I really like that it’s wood.

Easy to set up and use and works perfectly! Disappears into a neat bundle when not in use.

Ordered this yarn winder and was a bit of a worried that it would not work like it should, but spent the money and took the chance. The winder arrived today and I was not at all disappointed. The construction quality is excellent, smooth surfaces and fluid movement. I have a good number of hanks of merino wool and alpaca that needed to be wound and it took far too long to do it my hand, but this winder working in conjuction with my Boyle ball winder makes quick work of the job. Winding by hand took about 20 minutes, with the Swift Winder and the Boyle it now takes about two minutes to wind a full hank of speciality yarn. I have also rewound the partial skiens I have remaining from a project back into neat center pull balls, so no more partial skiens rolling about! I was a bit confused as to the sizing of the various winders offered, so opted for the 'medium'. The umbrella expansion style allows the winder to easily accept the standard hank or skien of yarn without any problem, and there is still room to expand further if needed. I must also say that I was impressed with this Seller. When I ordered this winder I opted for the next day shipping for an additional fee. The following day I received an email saying that the item was back-ordered and would not ship 'next day' but would ship as soon as it was available. The next day shipping fee was immediately refuned without my even having to ask. The winder arrived the following day via FedEx at no additional cost. You cannot ask for more than that from anyone, but it certainly impressed me as to the quality of the Seller and their desire to have a satisfied customer base. Rest assured that I will again turn to this Seller for any additional products I might purchase. If you are in the market for a winder I would highly recommend this one based on the quality and the Seller's professionalism. If you add a Boyle (or similar) automated ball winder you will think you have gone to yarn heaven!

This is my first swift and it was very easy to use for someone with no prior experience to set up and figure out. I had several beautiful hanks of Malabrigo Rios but was only winding them as-needed since it's such a hassle to wind hanks. This swift made the process a breeze, and I had all of my hanks done in under ten minutes! Most yarn stores will have a swift and ball winder available for customers, but for those who have to buy their yarn online, having a swift is incredibly convenient. The unit does initially make some whining noises when it first begins spinning, but once it gets going the noise stops. I also have a little trouble opening/raising the "umbrella" if it snuggly closed, so I need to pull the arms slightly open before I can push up the piece that opens the "umbrella". Sorry, I don't know the names of all the parts! I'm a little nervous about how long the wooden screws are going to last, particularly the large one at the base, so I was careful not to over-tighten it. Note that the wood is unfinished, so you may want to rub some mineral oil into it as a finish. I'm hoping the noise will stop once I oil it!

More solid than I thought it would be and coupled with the Stanwood Needlecraft ...Ball Winder, it's great!! In fact, I learned something about yarn. I had been winding the yarn myself ... you know, the old fashion way - if you have a husband/partner or, like me, yarn on feet??!!. First of all, I found that the Wooden Umbrella coupled with the Ball winder wound my yarn far more loosely than I did when I did it manually. When I asked a veteran knitter, she said this was better for knitting and the project chosen (I'm giving myself away as a beginner !! ...). Initially, in my enthusiasm with the two items, I started obsessively winding a lot of my stash. I was then told that it is better not to wind any yarn until you are ready to start your project because even despite a loose wind, the winding will still stretch the yarn. .... I write all this for what it is worth to others. I'm on a steep learning curve. Nevertheless, bottom line ... great products!

After knitting for years and trying to "hold on to that darn ball of yarn that kept jumping out of my lap," I decided to purchase this. The great thing is, it helps to create a ball that you call pull from the center and so the yarn doesn't move. I bought this in conjunction with a yarn ball winder manufactured by the same company. The two work together beautifully to tame all that runaway yarn. Very easy to operate. My grandson, age 10, was eager to help me rewind all my yarn. I showed him one time how to load the skein of yarn on the swift, feed it to the ball winder, and he took over winding all my yarn. Once the yarn is wound with this device, it stores easier and knits so much easier. I highly recommend this item. It is a small investment that will yield great pleasure. I love this!

This looks good. I bought it as a present so I am not equiped to rate it really. Delivery delay because of flooding but kept well informed.

The Stanwood wool winder is a beautifully crafted piece of knitting equipment and very simple to operate. Thoroughly recommend this product

Excellent, beautifully crafted swift. Love it!

Beautiful piece of equipment, wish I'd bought it sooner. Only complaint? It came out of the box in bits with no indication on how to put it back together. Simple enough, but a picture would have been handy. Had to glue the knob at the top back on, hopefully it'll stick! Already used it a couple of times & it's saved me a lot of time.

All that I expected. Very pleased. Thank you