Ball winding hints and tips

[nnt]

Hi everyone!

 

Since I live in a small town, with no other crocheters nearby, I am appealing to all of you to help me. I have fallen completely in love with all the beautiful hand dyed yarns (especially on etsy) and especially fingering yarns and lace weight yarns. Of course, most of these are sold in hanks. So I figure, no problem, just get a ball winder, since there's no LYS around me to take it to.

 

I get a ball winder, and I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. All I've ever heard from anyone else is how wonderful the winders are and how easy it is to use. It just does not work for me.

 

Let me explain my problem. I can run the winder, and wind some yarn into balls. My problem is with the hank of yarn. About halfway through the winding process, the hank (which I put over the back of a chair, since I don't have a swift) is a tangled mess which I either have to throw out or spend 3-4 hours untangling. It takes me 4-5 hours to ball up 440 yards of fingering weight yarn, or DAYS to ball 1000 yds of lace weight.

 

So what am I doing wrong?? Would a swift really help that much? I'm scared to spend more money on this little project. I am frustrated, confused, and scared to death to even try to ball the 100% silk laceweight yarn I just bought!!!

 

Help!! Give me some guidance and advice!! What am I doing wrong??

[Granny Square]

Good heavens, you could ball it up MUCH quicker by hand.

 

Sorry I can't help, I DO ball hanks by hand, I don't have a winder, but if you have un-twisted the hank so it is a big loop and draped it over a chair, I'm having trouble seeing how it is getting tangled. Is the winder winding too fast and pulling it off the chair?

 

Could you bribe your DH to hold the hank-loop between his hands, maybe that would work better?

[Ladycrochat]

I have to agree with Granny Square....the FIRST thing I do with ANY new yarn is to wind it up into a ball:yarn.....it doesn't matter if it is in a hank or a pull out skein......sort of lets me get a feel for it's weight.....and I love :manyheartfeeling how soft it is........rolling yarn into balls is a lot of fun for me! Perhaps it's a bit weird but there you have it! That's me! But if you do not like winding your balls of yarn by hand, a swift would be very helpful I would think.

[Wiste]

Do a google for "tinker toy swift". It shouldn't be too expensive to make. Otherwise it might help to have someone else hold up the loop with their arms while you feed it on the winder to keep it from getting tangled.

[theluckielizard]

I think a swift will help you out alot! I recently recieved a few hanks of alpca yarn. I got a winder and swift from ebay. I paid about $29 shipping and all for my swift, it holds up to 60inch diameter. I used to wind balls by hand but for me it took way too long. So for me the swift is the best way to go. When I put the skein on the swift, I just make sure I straighten it as much as I can, and so far I haven't had any problems with tangels or knots.

 

Good luck with your yarns.

[Pyroteca]

I think a swift is a must. It helps you to arrange the hank and keep it taught so that the yarn comes out of it more smoothly. I used to do all of my hanks by hand, and it just took forever. I find that with the swift and wool winder, it goes fairly quickly, and no tangles. But, make sure when you get the hank set up that you find the end that starts unraveling the hank on the outside, not the inside, and that may be causing some of your tangles. When you hold the hank on your outstretched hands, one end will be on the inside (so, in the circled created by the yarn) and the other will be on the outside of the loop. I hope that is not too confusing.

 

Anyway, highly recommend the swift.