As the Swift Turns

I had mentioned a while ago that I was bidding on a swift on eBay. I ended up winning the auction but the seller took a ridiculously long time in sending the swift. I was pretty peeved, I called their storefront once and sent a couple of emails. I definately will not buy from them again.
When the swift finally arrived, I was so disappointed because the arms did not extend very far. There was something wrong with how the mechanism was sliding up and down on the center post, i.e. it wouldn't move more than a third of the way up the post. This picture should have tipped me off.


I tried using waxed paper and it helped a bit, I could slide it up an ooch more. Then the lightbulb went off and I remembered that we have some 000 steel wool in the basement. A half-hour's worth of elbow grease and the swift works like a charm. It easily holds a skein of Cascade 220 and will definately hold larger hanks. Sorry, January in Wisconsin means that there is no sun for another 97 days equaling totally crap pictures. Just imagine the center post a lighter color that gleams because it is so highly polished and that the thumbscrew part goes all the way to the top.

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In actual knitting news, I found a cute dishcloth pattern on 1870 Pearl that I had to share. I cast on this morning and am half-way through the first corner. Now I just need to head out to Wal-mart for the big-a$$ cone of Peaches and Cream and I think the quicko-cheapo gift stash will be well under way.

Eric's scarf. Still black, nearly done with the first ball of 220 superwash, which puts me at about halfway on the length. Still not possible to photograph the dang thing with the overcast lighting we have here until June. Have I mentioned that I have a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder?