Lion Brand gripe

[Afghaniac]

I just bought a Lion Brand Pound of Love and can't for the life of me find the end that turns it into a pull skein. What a bother, having to unwind from that big, bulky skein as I crochet. I once knew a lady who could magically find that end no matter how deep it was buried, and I wish she were here now. Why on earth do manufacturers make their products so user unfriendly?  I hope they visit this forum, and I hope I'm not contaminating this afghan with my foul language to the child who gets the blanket!

[mattenylou]

Afghaniac, i recently had the same problem with a Pound of Love and I've got 2 more of them here with no inner ends showing either. Makes me think they have to save every scant inch of yarn so they trim them too darn short and it just recoils back inside, forever lost.

 

On that recent lilac skein I used, I ended up sticking my hook in there and grabbing a bit, eventually I was able to find the end and roll those innards into a small ball without cutting it and before it ended up a knotted mess, but it took a while and I attacked it verrry sllowwy, nothing worse than starting off a project with a mass of knots!

 

I've got 2 more baby blankets to make and I may just set these Pound of Loves aside and pick up some Simply Soft instead.

 

Lion Brand- are you reading this???

[imanurse55]

I would send an email to Lion Brand- and let them know the difficulty you are experiencing! I once had an issue with Caron Simply Soft and I emailed Caron- and they were very apologetic and send me new yarn!

[Peggy85225]

I've had this issue before too plus getting to the middle of the skein and having it so tangled I have to untangle it from both ends to get the knots out.  What a waste of time.

[Real Deal]

Ladies ~ most of the Lion Brand are NOT pull skeins. That's why you can't find an inner piece to pull on. I don't even bother looking inside anymore ~ I just automatically start all their skeins from the outside.

[mattenylou]

Ladies ~ most of the Lion Brand are NOT pull skeins. That's why you can't find an inner piece to pull on. I don't even bother looking inside anymore ~ I just automatically start all their skeins from the outside.

 

Hmmph, no wonder I couldn't find that inner end!

 

oh well, I eventually turned it into a pull skein after some bad words work.

[Afghaniac]

Hmmph, no wonder I couldn't find that inner end!

 

oh well, I eventually turned it into a pull skein after some bad words work.

You got lucky! I can usually turn a non-pull skein into a pull skein. But not with that very bad words one.

[Cathoms]

I am currently working with some Hershners yarn and they seem to like to put both ends into the middle.   I put it out and get "yarn Barf" and two ends  .       Then I spend 10 minutes separating the two and finally get the center pull to work correctly.   Very annoying.  

 

I do like to wind my yarn into cakes but this stuff is making me nuts.  

[counted94]

Pull skeins?  I can kill any skein kinda like computers (I am an IT tech).  Time waster or not I roll all yarn in to balls.  I will admit the Lion brand tweed is driving me bonkers as I roll it up. 

 

Laura

[Real Deal]

Oh, this is so strange! I just found out my niece is pregnant with twins! And what do I happen to have? 6 LB Pounds of Love that I bought on sale and stored in a transparent bin ~ pastel green, pastel yellow, pastel blue, lilac, lavender, and turquoise ~ ha, ha, ha!!! Plenty to make baby items, but I can just see those big pounds now, rolling around as I pull from the outside, and my 3 cats eyeing them, with attack plans in their minds. Ughhhh.

[VikingRunnerGirl]

Maybe you could punch some holes in the lid of the bin and feed the yarn through, and then they'd do their rolling about contained?

[babypoohsmom]

Ha! When I am shopping, I won't buy a skein unless I can find the end poking out. I am sure people wonder what I am doing when I reject one and pick up another (like buying produce)!

I am pretty sure I have had pounders with center pulls, but now of course I am going to go home and look. I have heard Pound of Love called Pound of Knots before on the 'Ville.

[crsheridan]

I pretty much force all skeins to be pull skeins. If the center pull is not obvious, I reach in and pull out a blob of yarn. Sometimes I have to do some winding to get the knots out, but most of the time (especially with Lion Brand Homespun, which I love) the center blob that comes out has been well contained - almost like a skein within a skein.

 

Sorry you're having so much trouble with your Pound of Love. I have only had one and had no problems finding the center pull yarn.

[nevam]

I haven't used too many of those skeins, but I've always been able to get the center pull started.  Like crsheridan said, I just reached in and pulled out a blob.  It has never been tangled too badly.  I refuse to use the yarn from the outside---it just doesn't come off smoothly as the skein flips and flops. 

[mandymae]

All of my Pound of Love skeins end up being worked from the outside. It would be SO much easier to work from the inside since the skeins are so large!

[wheat]

In fairness to Lion Brand,  they have information on their web site about "Center Pull" , 

 

http://www.lionbrand.com/faq/258.html

 

where to find the end and if the yarn is NOT prepared as a center pull, how to find the inner skein  AND TO EXPECT that excess yarn will also come out as you search for th end.

 

There are technical reasons why, especially in larger skeins, they are not planned as Center Pull.  

 

Far simpler to spend under $5 to improvise a Lazy Kate and use the skein as it was intended. 

[Becky Morgan]

Incidentally,for those who use big skeins--Dollar Tree.etc. have 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags from time to time, usually five in a box for a dollar. One of those will hold two 7-oz. skeins or a pounder, and all you have to do is unzip far enough for the end to come through. Most of the time there's enough room for the project in the bag, too. My cats don't get around my yarn, but back when I did crochet around them, bags were lifesavers. They're also really good if you want to take yarn on vacation, etc. because hook, pattern and all stay with it.

[Afghaniac]

Thank you. Good to know. I've never seen those bags, but will check out the local Dollar Tree whenever I stop in. I don't like the skein dragging on the floor either.

Incidentally,for those who use big skeins--Dollar Tree.etc. have 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags from time to time, usually five in a box for a dollar. One of those will hold two 7-oz. skeins or a pounder, and all you have to do is unzip far enough for the end to come through. Most of the time there's enough room for the project in the bag, too. My cats don't get around my yarn, but back when I did crochet around them, bags were lifesavers. They're also really good if you want to take yarn on vacation, etc. because hook, pattern and all stay with it.

[tobybob]

I'm using Pound of Love, 2 skeins and I found the center pull. I pulled some yarn from the middle out and untangled it. I find most big skeins I have to dig the end out.

[curlysue]

I'm getting to where I wind most skeins into balls.  Sometimes when I do find the center thread it is hard to pull for a bit.

[babypoohsmom]

Ok Wheat, you've got me.  What is a Lazy Kate?  I guess I will dash off to you tube and see if there is some kind of tutorial!! 

[Sews in Circles]

I have a question about lion brand that dorsnt involve loose ends. I hope its k to ask it here. I usually buy my yarn n stores but went onto yje lionbrand web site and seen they had a catalog which I signed up for thinking it would have yarns my local stores don't carry. And it did of course. And they had some that is carried in the stores. And those cost 3 times more than what the stores sell them for and I don't understand. I thought it was suppose to be cheaper buying straight from the manufacturer after cutting the middle man out? Does anyone no why it isn't in this case?

[wheat]

In today's world, the "fact" is that no retailer can stock every yarn from every brand and sometimes not even from every yarn from a single distributor.  

 

The answer to your question can get very complicated, there are endless exceptions, but what it comes down to is that there are so many different ways products are offered to the public that more often than not, the old rules do not apply.

 

In many cases, there is often a fulfillment middleman involved because many manufacturers whose products are offered on line are not set up to fill retail orders.  I do  not know but would not be surprised to learn that LionBrand has such arrangement in place - another example, and it involves two levels of middlemen - would be Clover and others who employ an order management company which in turn has the orders completed by independent retailers.   

 

And there there are the "Chain" models like AC Moore, JoAnne's, Michael and then there is the Amazon business model,  similar but different, and ebay, and well you get the idea.  The game is not as simple as it used to be.

 

To really get into this could take pages and hours and likely create more questions than answers.

 

Wheat