I have found that the best yarns come rolled up into almost a braided look of a skein/ball...yet I have also found that they are my worst nightmare! I am so used to working with yarns that have the tail (loose end) coming out the center of the skein so all I have to do is pull on that tail as I work on my project and the yarn comes out nice and without knots. More recently I've been working with yarns of different fibers and such...I am finding myself spending more time unraveling these skeins/balls of yarn than I am working on the actual project! I am asking for advice from anyone who has worked with yarns that look like this...
...because the above picture is how my yarn starts out looking, then when I go to actually use it, I have to figure out where the loose ends are, and then unravel it all, which in turn ends up like this...
I am so frustrated right now! All I want to make is a washcloth, yet I've already spent over an hour trying to un-knot this mess of yarn. What am I doing wrong? Any advice or suggestions will be greatly apreciated! Thanks!
Are you getting this from using a ball winder? Or are you trying to wind it yourself? If you don't have a ball winder get one. It will save you lots of headaches. I bought mine from knitpicks for $19 and no more headaches. Before that I had to find a sweet husband to hold it for me (and it wasn't always mine! -- he hated it -- so sometimes it had to be one of my sons -- they too hated it but usually do what mama asks).
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't have a ball winder. I usually just lay it all out on a table or the bed and try to unwind it carefully, but it doesn't matter how careful I am...this always happens! LoL! I will have to check into a ball winder! Thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteThe little shop where I buy yarn that looks like yours will wind your yarn into a much more controllable ball, and I know that a lot of yarn shops offer this service for free when you purchase from them. I don't know where you get yours, but you might ask them. Otherwise, I also have a ball winder that I got for about $25 from Amazon.com. It works great.
ReplyDeleteUmbrella swift and ball winder are two of the greatest purchases I ever made.
ReplyDeleteWell now I know what to put on my Christmas wish list this year! ;o)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the advice!
I vote for umbrella swift + ball winder as well. I found the first of these two in a yard sale (they are not that common in France, nobody knew what it was and therefore I had it for a couple of euros !) and I got the second on ebay.com, but since you live in the US Amazon.com is a great plan.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy these two, no messy balls anywhere !
I have been there and done that exactly like you. Arrrr 200 grams of rabbit wool, drove me nuts and all the fluff got up my nose making me sneeze for hours. I no longer buy yarn that is not already in a ball. But other people's comments sound more constructive, dont just give up on skins like me. hehehehehe
ReplyDelete