I have an antique swift, from my weaving days–Canadian, 1860’s, handmade, a little bit worn and missing one of its sticks (much the way I feel these days!). I don’t use the swift much any more, just when I am getting ready to whip my rugs. I like Briggs and Little yarns from New Brunswick the best; I overdyed this skein to give some slight variation to the colour. Getting from the broken swift to a ball of wool takes patience, but it is good preparation for whipping, which takes LOTS of patience. Some rug hookers hate the process of whipping a rug, but I love it. It is repetitive and meditative and puts me in close contact with the rug and my thoughts.
I think I have said before that I whip all four sides first and then do the corners. It postpones the toughest part and doing the corners one after the other ensures that they will look similar. I don’t baste the sides, but I do make a careful mitre on each corner and baste it firmly before I whip. This is Carissa’s birthday week and I am still optimistic that I will have the rug ready for her visit on Saturday. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
I stumbled upon your website and am in awe of your beautiful hooking. Wow! Have to comment on your sad antique swift. Take one of the existing ‘sticks’ to the hardware store and have them outfit you with a new dowel. The insertion end may be tapered slightly, easily accomplished with a little whittling. You’ll have more time to create if you spend less time with what should be an elegantly simple and unobtrusive tool. Pam