Wind it up
It's a question of yarn and how you work with it. Several, actually. Wrap it into a ball? Leave it in the skein? Pull from the center?
My impression is that pulling from the middle is the ideal or proper way, but I almost never do this. I can't find the end that's hiding in the middle, and I've had a couple incidents with nasty, nasty tangles.
If the yarn comes in a skein, I find the end on the outside and begin knitting with it. This can be a problem, especially with Lion Brand Homespun. The yarn doesn't come off in the most convenient way, so I frequently have to stop what I'm doing and pull a bunch off so the skein doesn't flop around. I've never wound a skein.
If the yarn comes in a hank from an online store or place that doesn't offer winding as a service, then I have wound it by hand into balls. As far as I know, there are no other options when the yarn is packaged this way.
What about you? I imagine opinions vary. Care to make a case for your methods?
posted by the secret knitter @ 11:48 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
If my yarn doesn't come in a center pull ball, I use a paper towel tube to wind it by hand into a center pull ball. If my yarn tangles up a lot while I'm trying to wind it (only happened a couple times) I roll it into a ball, and then I put the ball in a big bowl while I work from it. This way it can roll around in the bottom of the bowl, but it doesn't roll away.If I can pull it from the center and start working on it right after purchase, I do. I just shove my fingers into the middle grab a strand and pull. Sometimes I do good and other times I completely gut the ball and make a fabulous knot. That is one of the benefits of having more than one project going at once. I don't really mind the knots, but on those super stressful days when deknotting is just not an option, I just set it aside and work on something else.
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I've spent a couple hours trying to undo knots, and it's not something I enjoy at all. So, if I can avoid it, even if the center pull is supposedly superior, I'll take the inconvenience of the way I'm doing it.
Unless it comes in a center pull ball (which I've only used once), I hand wind it into a ball. I have a little bag with an elastic cord on the top that I got at Michael's to put the ball in so that it doesn't roll around (though my packback works well for this also).
I actually enjoy the process of winding the yarn into a ball. It gives me a chance to examine any knots or problem areas in the yarn.
But I have been known to just reach into the center of a skein and grab a bit of yarn hoping that the end comes with it. I'm usually lucky on that score.
I can't imagine pulling from the outside. Too much flopping around of the skein, but whatever works.
I like amanda's idea of the paper towel tube. I hadn't thought it. Think I'll try it on my next project.
I finally finished a baby blanket that has been on the needles for nearly a year now. I won't call it a toddler blanket, though that it what it has turned into.
I always use the outside tail. Flopping doesn't bother me -- having to tug on the yarn to get it to come free from the center does. And of course I can never find the center tail. I wind hanks into a ball by hand and actually enjoy the process, but I don't bother trying to make the ball center-pull (see above), sot that makes the handwinding much less fussy.
I splurged and bought (at different times) a ballwinder and swift. My kids (gotta love slave labor! LOL) love to help wind the yarn once I get it started. This way I always have center pull balls from the hanks.
If it's already in a ball, I search for the inside end. I dont' mind untangling.
I'm too impatient to look for the center and work w/ tangles, so I almost always take from the outside. I have plenty of free-standing tote bags, baskets and bowls that I can put the yarn in while I knit so it doesn't roll around and I don't think it causes me that much extra hassle.
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