Swift (textiles)

Swifts are not used very much in the textile industry but are used more by knitters and crocheters who buy their yarn in hank form.

They are preferred by hand spinners because they fold up, which is good for storage, and they are generally more stable, of higher quality, and look nicer than metal umbrella swifts.

Another type is the 'Amish style' swift, a rotating cross with positionable pegs to adjust for different diameters of hanks.

While today this is a big disadvantage, as different manufacturers don't always make hanks the same size, it was not an issue when all yarn was hand spun.

At this time hanks from one spinner would all be the same size, as they would have been made on the same niddy noddy, thus only one diameter was needed.