Yarn Quality Control

[Madame Margaret]

I've been buying yarn for years, mostly Red Heart, Hobby Lobby, Herrschners, Caron, etc. (not the MOST expensive brands). It seems to me that the quality of the pull-out skein manufacture has gotten just terrible in the last year or so. Is it just my imagination?

 

About 2 years ago I invested in a Royal ball winder. Now I'm using it for literally every skein I start because I can't count on a smooth pull-out from most skeins. In addition, I'll get several skeins from the same dye lot and find that all of them have knots (sometimes more than one) in them from breakage while winding.

 

I have some jumbo skeins set aside for a couple of afghans. I know those won't fit on the ball winder and I'm just so concerned that I'll start working on something and find I'll have to spend hours untangling the yarn.

 

Is it only me??

[KDK]

No its not. I've discovered the same thing lately and I don't have a ball winder so I've been making yarn balls by hand lately. Right now I'm making a thread soap sack to try and keep my girls from dropping the soap so much and even my thread has a knot in it.

[losingmymind2]

I'm winding all my yarn, too. Mostly for storage space considerations, but I'm finding the same problem with even 'higher end' yarns. I'm rolling even my jumbo balls because it just saves annoyance later on.

[mandymae]

I usually ball my yarn before working with it because it is super frustrating to be pulling from the center of the skein and have a big tangle of yarn come out as you pull.

[yarn_geek]

The yarn tangles don't bother me so much as the knots and snags! Yarn quality has definately gone down lately.

[FrLopLady]

newbie... but I found when making (and FINISHING!) my first afghan that the yarn varied skein to skein in quality. Some skeins were fine (ok a knot sometimes 2, but they have to keep going too!) but what I noticed is some of the skeins had thin spots in the yarn..and other skeins were fine..

[Ldyjarhead]

I'm cheap so normally use RH but you're right, the quality stinks. I always check each skein I purchase to make sure the little tail is there to pull out, but half the time it doesn't matter because it's knotted up in there anyway and the two ends end up wrapped around each other.

 

It's been so bad that I was thinking about writing them a nasty gram.

[RoseRed]

When the 2 ends wrap around each other on the inside it's because the outer thread got sucked back in somehow.

 

I just called Joann's and complained about 2 skeins of Sensations. If you order it online they don't require that you send it back.

 

Even using the jumbo skeins - just make more than 1 ball.

[Gran]

I use the outside end, as the inside pull is rarely dependable. The problem of knots which join separate pieces is very disappointing.

[Valsey]

I have found what you all have posted also and have taken to making yarn balls out of every skein I work with. I hate having to do that because it takes so much time away from actually crocheting. I recently bought my first two skeins of Hobby Lobby brand yarn, Love that Yarn, and found knots in both skeins

[CraftyZone]

I found the same problem too at times some yarns do have big wads of yarn pull out or there are places they been knotted together.

[love.2save]

I have taken to just unwinding it from the outside and not bothering with pulling from the inside cause I hate ball winding, but sometimes I still get a bigf knot. Newbie question?? why do you need to pull from the inside anyway when you can unwind from the outside and avoid some of the trouble??

[Shell Lee]

I have taken to just unwinding it from the outside and not bothering with pulling from the inside cause I hate ball winding, but sometimes I still get a bigf knot. Newbie question?? why do you need to pull from the inside anyway when you can unwind from the outside and avoid some of the trouble??

 

Pulling from the inside is nice because then you don't have to keep turning the skein over if it gets trapped between you and the cushion, It won't roll away from you when you yank on the skein to get more yarn, etc.

[LI Roe]

I pull from the inside and if I take it out a certain way, it doesn't blob up as much and I can use it without having to untangle it. I don't like using the outside for that reason, it rolls, turns over, does everything but sit up and beg.

 

I have yarn that was donated to me before I retired in 1999 and at times when using it, I have found it also be knotted within the skein.

 

I wish I knew why there are so many quality issues with yarn now. Maybe they have to produce a certain quota each day and are rushed for time. But since the skeins are machine wound (I am assuming this) there shouldn't be a quality issue. I have noticed that some skeins are softer to the touch, others seems scratchier, depending on the colors and if it is solid or variegated.

 

I will admit though, there are times when detangling a skein is good therapy for me.

 

LI Roe

[MaryPat]

I'm working with a thread right now that has a lot of areas where the thread isn't twisted at all. Fortunately it's a very dense pattern where these half inches of blah don't show. It would really be frustrating in another pattern.

[curlysue]

I too find that yarn quality is poor these days. I end up making balls often. The center pull method is really getting unreliable. I'm also finding more knots. At least when you wind into balls, the knots aren't a surprise.

[Real Deal]

Lion Brand has not typically had center pull skeins, so I don't even check to see if newer ones do pull from the center. I just unroll all of them from the outside.

 

The quality (how it feels) of some Red Heart yarn is becoming alarming. I have a lot of older skeins that are fine, and when compared to newer scratchier ones, I am honestly appalled at the current quality. My older black skeins are nice and soft, but I could use the new stuff to scour my kitchen sink.