Do you have a yarn winder? What are the benefits?

[Suddengeekgirl]

I'm a crocheter and I keep seeing people talking/ using yarn winders and 'caking' yarn.

I'm toying with buying a yarn winder, as I do like things to be neat, but I'm not really sure of the benefits IYSWIM.

I've got a blanket project in my to do list which is a many coloured, join as you go job so maybe just having a basket of small balls would be better than 15+ half used ones?

Tell me about your yarn winding please! :)

[Theas18]

Assuming you buy skeins of yarn you need to wind them.

Old way - open skein, drop over knees( round neck works too) , upturned stool or hands of a suitable washed and bribed child. Then wind your ball by hand ( loosely not the old rock hard ones my mother wound - that's reall bad for the yarn!)

Cheap, works fine, takes no equipment. But it's slow - lace weight kills everyone concerned and even 4 ply can be a challenge if you are relying on a child to hold it.

Me, I have a gorgeous wooden sunflower swift - if you want a compromise, a swift to hold the yarn whilst you hand wind is good - no moaning child and you can stop and start no problem.

I also have a knitpicks ball winder from an American friend. I do like it. It makes pretty cakes that sit neatly . But it's not essential .

You wouldn't wind less that 50g on a ball winder really so for your little blanket balls you may as well hand wind.

Dunno if that helps at all!

[sanquhar]

I love my yarn swift and winder, so satisfying!

It's definitely for skein's of yarn though, it takes fecking hours to wind 1000yards of lace by hand!

No point having a winder for bog standard balls of ready wound yarn, it wouldn't wind evenly and you would have a lumpy cake.

[SoupDragon]

Oh, I had a whale of a time rewinding all my scruffy balls of Stylecraft into neat little cakes. I am a little embarrassed at how much I enjoyed it...

I bought a cheap winder for about £11 from Amazon and it does the job perfectly. It balances out the expensive wooden Sunflower swift.

[SoupDragon]

No point having a winder for bog standard balls of ready wound yarn, it wouldn't wind evenly and you would have a lumpy cake.

Actually it does wind evenly, although for my scruffier balls of part used Stylecraft, I wound it onto the swift first so I could free any tangles.

[Suddengeekgirl]

soup that's exactly what I think would happen. It's a totally unnecessary purchase but I love having things neat and organised! not that they stay that way

[TheNinjaGooseIsHooking]

I love my winder, just a cheapy one from amazon. I use it for skeins and left over stylecraft when it gets to the falling apart stage The best bit is that you can make centre pull cakes so you don't have it rolling all over the place as you use it.

[RaisingSteam]

I've never heard of anyone who has a swift and winder and regretted it! It's so great setting it up with skeins. I'm not sure I'd use it for winding from balls unless they'd "gone bad" but you've given me an idea.

My swift came from an antique shop - it was lurking there in the corner and I practically sprinted out with it!

[lavendersun]

I googled sunflower swifts on the back of this thread and wished I hadn't, they are really beautiful. I have a thing for lovely wooden things.

I weave in the winter and knit one garment in the summer - probably only use 12 skiens a year so definitely do not need one.

I think it might go on my list of present wants for when DH is completely lost for things to buy me.

Raising, that was an incredible find. I often spend an hour or two perusing antique shops and charity shops (our lovely Georgian rural market town now has seven charity shops , a sign of the modern High St I think). I will keep my eyes peeled .... probably wouldn't have known what the lovely wooden thing was before.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I've got a cheapy one from Amazon, takes a bit of getting used to but really worth the effort, my balls of stylecraft take up half the space they did when new, they unroll evenly when in use (they just sit still and unravel, instead of you having to tug on them a bit), they don't all tangle together in bags and they look lovely.

7 charity shops is a lot? We're in a lovely Georgian market town too and got about 12 now, they just keep appearing.

[lavendersun]

We only had 3 in 2009 WhoKnows, businesses just keep disappearing - suppose it depends on the size of the town but yes, I think it is a lot for my small town with less than 35 shops in total.

[qazxc]

I like a centre pull ball of yarn. So with the style craft i go fishing around the middle (on the opposite side that has the "outside yarn tail") and fish out the clump that has the "inside yarn tail".

. I found the method on this video for the continuous granny join.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Sorry, wasn't trying to be sarky Lavender, we had 7 for many years and loads more opened in the last few years, along with cheap shops, hairdressers and weirdly, opticians. Lots of empty units too

[lavendersun]

I didn't take it that way at all WhoKnows , just that it seems a lot - 20% of the town, albeit a small one.

Mind you, yesterday I was in town, got my hair appt wrong and browsed the shops. I bought a dress for £4.49 and a skirt for £6. Both BNWT, one a linen skirt from fat face and the other a dress. I had bought this dress from JL when they had a price match thing on for £79.20 (because I looked it up when I got home!), from East. I returned it because although I liked it I didn't think it was worth the cost ...... but it is lovely for £4.49 .

So maybe an increase incharity shops aren't always a bad thing, back to the topic .... yarn winders .

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

No, some of ours are very lovely and I like a good browse. But it is sad to see so many of the other businesses being replaced by them, we had a fabulous vintage clothes shop that is now a charity shop. Never found a yarn winder in one though!

[SoupDragon]

That's because everyone loves their yarn winder :)

[Suddengeekgirl]

I've ordered one!

I want tidy little balls of neatness!

[TheWoollybacksWife]

Thanks to this thread and another one in Chat last week I now have a yarn winder and a salt pig on my Amazon wish list.

I'm an advertisers dream.

[Suddengeekgirl]

I've had one on my wish list for a while. Nobody was buying daft non crafting family so I treated myself!

[lavendersun]

This is very funny! . I only really post in A&C, camping and a couple of other long running threads where we have shared interests and are all very nice. I do find myself coveting things that I don't really need after learning how much people love their 'thing' on mnet!

I am now desperate for a yarn winder, for my 12 skeins a year.

I found a lovely one on etsy the other day during an all day revision session. Like a work of art, unfortunately the price matched most works of art.

[lavendersun]

Dear me, I have just ordered a sunflower swift and an oak nostepinne. The rain/cold made me consider getting my loom out.

I had an exam today, no more lectures (just work) until September, I think I might have some spare time.

Mnet strikes again!!!

[SoupDragon]

That didn't take long from "I covet X but really can't justify one" to "dammit I've just bought X. Oh, and Y too. And possibly Z but I'm not confessing that purchase."

:)

[lavendersun]

mine is here, we were away for the weekend and I found it in the summerhouse last night, too tired to have a go and I didn't even unpack it - lots of green tissue paper. It will fit in the front pocket of my loom bag which is great.

The Nostepinne is lovely though - I chose an oak one.

I am going to take it/my loom on holiday with me in two weeks - West coast of Scotland and four of the islands for nearly three weeks. I want to make something like this which is on the webpage I by my weaving stuff from.

[Suddengeekgirl]

Mine arrived last week but I only got round to using it today.

OMG! I want to wind all the yarn!
How neat and tidy is this ball of Carons simply soft?!? It normally ends up in a tangly sausage, not any more!

[lavendersun]

That is fantastic, did you use a nostepinne Sudden? I am itching to get going ... but have another urgent project on the go, fabric just arrived and I am going to be sewing this week.

We did an epic bike ride today, I am feeling very very weary right now but have the energy to unpack my box I think .

[Suddengeekgirl]

No nosteppine needed. I have one of those plastic ones with the handle you turn. The wooden ones look lovely but also like something the dcs would pinch and break!