knitting/yarn/baller question

[cin]

My daughter has taken up knitting, and is now making some scarves for teachers for Christmas. When I buy the nice yarn it comes in this weird entanglement/winding. we lay it out for her, and it doens't get moved until she finishes the project.

 

Her birthday is coming up and we were looking at yarn ballers (?) Anybody here know anything about them? Brands to NOT get, brands to get; electric? manual? I am clueless.

 

I do know that little sis and I are both going to start knitting lessons soon, and will prolly end up using it too.

 

Any input REALLY welcome, cuz I am SO out of my league here!

[Dobela]

If you go to Ravelry.com or Knittinghelp.com and visit the forums, there is a great amount of discussion about yarn winders. The price can be quite cheap to unbelievably expensive. I have one that looks similar to this. I was fortunate and found mine at a thrift store for $1. No one knew what it was for LOL.

 

I looked at the more expensive motorized ones and they really had mixed reviews. By using coupons and sales I could have bought one of the $100 ones at Hobby Lobby or Michaels for about 1/2 price.

 

I like mine in an ok kind of a way. It is way better than nothing so I like it for no other reason than that. It only has the small cone so it can only manage small balls. This is fine except when I want to wind a bulky yarn or a large skein of yarn. Since I often repurpose yarns from sweaters and such, sometimes I very much need the larger cones. Mine also doesn't attach well to a table which means I end up holding it, which means my hands and arms tire if I am doing several balls.

 

If she is making her own yarn, or repurposing yarn, a swift would be a great addition to the winder. That is my next purchase. ETA it sounds like she is buying specialty yarns that some in hanks and have to be wound. If that is true, then she definately needs the swift. eBay has a good picture but you can find them all over the web and I have even seen instructions on how to make your own.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Dobela

[Amy in NH]

What you are buying comes in a "hank". Before I purchased a ball-winder from Craigslist, we just hand-rolled it into a ball. A ball-winder is relatively inexpensive; you can get one at knitpicks for $20. I have a Royal that cost me $10 used.

 

Whether you use a ball-winder or wind it by hand, unless you have a yarn swift on which to put the untied hank you'll need to have one person hold it (a giant loop draped across two arms) while another winds it. A yarn swift is rather expensive ($65 on knitpicks), and we don't have one. Sometimes I drape the hank (untied) over the back of a chair to hold while winding.

 

A center-pull ball doesn't roll all over the place while you are using the yarn. To hand-wind one, you can snap the end of the yarn into an old film container and wind around it. If you don't wrap the yard around the cover, you can remove the cover when you're finished and use that end to pull from the center of the ball. The ball-winder makes a center-pull ball as well.

 

Or just google "winding yarn"

Edited June 20, 2011 by Amy in NH

[Firefly]

Also, just FYI, most yarn shops will wind hanks into balls for you when you purchase the yarn. It's nice to have your own though; I'm forever acquiring hanks at yarn swaps. :D I've been winding by hand, but I'd like to get a swift at some point, so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Edited June 21, 2011 by Firefly
typo!

[Mothersweets]

Another name for the yarn is a skein ( "skayn")- that's what I call it. :)

[Amy in NH]

Another name for the yarn is a skein ( "skayn")- that's what I call it. :)

 

Technically a skein is an oblong "ball", like what you'd buy at a department store. For instance, this is a skein, this is a ball, and this is a hank which comes tied up looking like this.

 

 

Ooh! Here's a perfect comparison!

Edited June 20, 2011 by Amy in NH

[amey311]

Before I had a winder and a swift, I would put a skein (the big loop you get) on my knees and then slowly wind a ball on a toilet paper tube - if you cut a slit in an end, you can end up with a center pull "cake" of yarn.

 

When I got my winder, I would still do as above, but just wind it into a "cannon ball" first because I always wanted to wind faster than I could control the skein on my knees.

 

If you have to choose, the winder is the better choice in my opinion. You can always sort out some way to hold the skein (on a lamp shade, on the back of a chair, there was an ingenious one someone made by turning an office chair upside down, removing the wheels, and sticking crayola markers in the holes. I've also seen a swift made out of tinker toys. Google things like "DIY yarn swift").

 

I don't think typical knitters need an electric winder. I think I timed myself once and I could wind a 400 yard skein of worsted weight yarn in about 5 minutes with my winder and swift, from start to finish. I think the electric ones are handy for people who are doing major production knitting, or who sell online.

 

Someone else mentioned that if you buy your yarn in a local shop, they'll often wind it for you - you just have to ask. You could also ask if they'd be willing to wind skeins purchased elsewhere for a fee.

 

I will say, that if I had to choose between buying a winder and spending the equivalent amount of money on yarn? I'd pick yarn. :)

[Carol in Cal.]

When I buy yarn like that I usually ask the yarn shop whether they will wind it for me, and they almost always do. If you're buying by mail, they generally won't. Also, once it's wound you can't return it, so if you buy extra planning to return what you don't use, don't do this.

 

I have a wooden umbrella swift that clamps onto a counter to hold the skein and rotate while I wind it. And I have a cheapo plastic ball winder that is mechanical (turn a crank) rather than electrical. I have had them for so long that I don't remember how much they cost. They are convenient and fold up to store easily.

 

I still prefer to let the shop do it, though. They do it so often that they are just really good at it.

[amey311]

Technically a skein is an oblong "ball", like what you'd buy at a department store. For instance, this is a skein.

 

It took me a minute to think of what the twisty loop is. It's a "hank" right?

 

Like this: http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-220.asp

[happypamama]

I've had both the winder from KnitPicks and the one from JoAnn's. Both are manual, and both have worked beautifully. The one from KnitPicks can be hand-held, or mounted on a table, but I think the one from JoAnn's actually can hold a bigger ball, even though it can only be table-mounted. I really don't have a preference. You can get a coupon and get the JoAnn's one very inexpensively. Both are easy for my 9yo to use.

 

A swift would be nice, but it's not essential. I buy a lot of yarn from KnitPicks, and it comes in balls or skeins already, so I don't need a swift to wind it into a center-pull ball. When I do buy hanks, they're usually from my local store, and they will let me use their swift for free. If I have hanks that need to be wound at home, I pay DD a quarter or two, and she holds them for me. So far I've not paid her nearly enough to warrant buying a swift myself. (And sometimes we trade; I hold her yarn while she winds, and she holds mine.)

[happypamama]

It took me a minute to think of what the twisty loop is. It's a "hank" right?

 

Like this: http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-220.asp

 

I consider that to be a "hank." When I first started knitting, I didn't realize it was supposed to be wound into a ball, and I thought there was something wrong with me because it kept tangling. :)

 

I've tried winding yarn with the drill+knitting needle method, and that works but is not nearly as nice as with a ball winder. I do consider a winder to be fairly essential to pleasant knitting, not so much a swift.

[Mommy22alyns]

If you start with just the ball winder and no swift, I've found a round laundry basket turned upside down makes my best holder while winding. Well, someone's hands are even better, but I only sometimes recruit a kid or dh to do that--it takes me a long time to wind by hand. I use an empty toilet paper tube to wind around.

 

 

I've done this too, in an "emergency." :lol: I have a $20 ball winder and DH is my swift. :D I only have the yarn shop wind it if they're not busy. Actually, one shop never ever even offers. :confused:

[Mothersweets]

Technically a skein is an oblong "ball", like what you'd buy at a department store. For instance, this is a skein, this is a ball, and this is a hank which comes tied up looking like this.

 

 

Ooh! Here's a perfect comparison!

 

 

Well, whaddaya know? :D I've always called it a skein. Thanks!

[glennis_b]

I like for the yarn shop to do it for me.