Squirrel Cage Swift

Ever since I have been knitting and spinning, I have a whole different level of appreciation for a handcrafted items. Of course, I still support Costco and still buy my items from mass productions of Pottery Barns but every now and then, I like unique things.

While browsing the internet, I have come across a truly unique item. An elderly who has been knitting all her life was starting to sell off some of her knitting notions because she might be moving out of her home and into a more smaller place since all of her kids have flown the coup.

One of the many things that she had for sale was a Squirrel Cage Swift. Most knitters are more familiar with the umbrella swift which is more portable and main stream. However, this is a stationary swift and it is vertical.

It is fashioned with 2 squirrel-like cage right on top of each other (hence the name) that moves up and down depending on the size of your hank. Both cage turns simultaneously when the yarn is being winded into a ball, either by hand or ball-winder.

This particular model was hand-crafted by a local woodturner right here in Niagara Falls back in 1983. He had fashioned it after seeing an antique model in England.

When asked how much she is selling it for, she told me that she only wanted to get what she had paid for back in 1983..............$75.

Well - I felt like I just hit a little old lady over the head and ran off with her purse.