# Swift



## deenashoemaker (Nov 9, 2014)

I'm so excited. My BIL got me a swift dated on the bottom, " To Rachel, Dec 1792". It needs a little tightening, but works wonderfully. I love my BIL.


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## YarnCreations (Feb 18, 2017)

What an amazing piece of equipment. What stories it could tell!


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## deenashoemaker (Nov 9, 2014)

I haven't researched it yet, but I wonder if it was hand made for Rachel or a production piece. I'm in Amish country (Apple Creek, Ohio) so I don't know if it's Amish, American or German.I've got work to do. My DH and BIL are whittling new pegs for it right now.


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Wow! I love it


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

How neat that is. Years of history.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Wow, that is so....amazing!


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## deenashoemaker (Nov 9, 2014)

Now, does anyone know if I measure by the 'click' or wraps? They are different, many more wraps to one click.


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Wow it is amazing. If it could talk the stories... Enjoy using it and think of the person it was dedicated to way back then.


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## luree (Feb 21, 2014)

Wonderful.


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## betty boivin (Sep 12, 2012)

Imagine the stories it could tell! What a wonderful piece of history!


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## Alpaca Farmer (Jan 19, 2011)

Great gift. If it could only tell it's story...


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## Goodshepfarm (Jul 20, 2014)

Wow!! So happy for you!


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## janetec (Jan 29, 2015)

What a wonderful piece. Perhaps it was made for Rachel by her sweetheart. I am envious!


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## mousepotato (May 30, 2011)

I hate to break the news, but this isn’t a swift, it’s a skein winder and was/is used to wind spun yarn into what we’d now call hanks. The clicker is called a weasel, as in “Pop goes the...” and indicates that a yard has been wound. It is, in fact, the origin of that nursery rhyme. That said, if it is actually 200 plus Year’s old, it’s a valuable antique and should be used with care and reverence. It is a beautiful piece. You don’t often find them with weasels still functional.


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## deenashoemaker (Nov 9, 2014)

This is what I found about 'Pop Goes The Weasel' wikileaks, written in early 1800's
Weasel is derived from "weasel and stoat" meaning coat. It was traditional for even poor people to own a suit, which they wore as their 'Sunday Best'. When times were hard they would pawn their suit, or coat, on a Monday and claim it back before Sunday. Hence the term " Pop goes the Weasel"

Swift/skein winder, I'm seeing where the words are interchangeable.

I'm finding several versions of the song, mostly pertaining to a 'cobblers bench'.


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## spinninggill (Apr 9, 2011)

Wow. Amazing.


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## sbeth53 (Mar 29, 2011)

Lucky you! My BIL is a great guy who still calls my yarn "string" :sm01: He wouldn't know a fiber tool from a shoebox :sm02:


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## deenashoemaker (Nov 9, 2014)

sbeth53 said:


> Lucky you! My BIL is a great guy who still calls my yarn "string" :sm01: He wouldn't know a fiber tool from a shoebox :sm02:


That's funny????


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## mousepotato (May 30, 2011)

deenashoemaker said:


> This is what I found about 'Pop Goes The Weasel' wikileaks, written in early 1800's
> Weasel is derived from "weasel and stoat" meaning coat. It was traditional for even poor people to own a suit, which they wore as their 'Sunday Best'. When times were hard they would pawn their suit, or coat, on a Monday and claim it back before Sunday. Hence the term " Pop goes the Weasel"
> 
> Swift/skein winder, I'm seeing where the words are interchangeable.
> ...


i won't argue with you about it. Despite my own research.


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