[CheriF]

I was reading another thread about rolling a yarn ball too tightly. How do you prevent that if you have a yarn winder? I have noticed that that the skeins I wind into a cake seem to have more yardage than those I don't. Obviously I am doing something wrong to cause the yarn to stretch.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheri

 

[AmyKnits]

You should wind your hank into a cake and use it immediately. In fact, if I am working on a project, I wind one hank and then the next is not wound until after I have finished the first hank wound into a cake.

Also, I use a swift now and that helps even the tension.... however, before I had the swift, my cakes were too loose and the swift allows me to get more yarn wound at a time so I assume it is winding it tighter.

Wind right before using and your yarn won't retain the memory of being wound tightly.. it will bounce back fine as you knit with it.

 

[barcar]

I wrap the yarn over my fingers and remove my fingers leaving that amount of space within the ball. I've never thought about rolling the ball just as I need it. Good idea.

 

[chickkie]

I wind mine into cakes on the winder all the time, and if I think it is too tight when I take it off the winder and it has relaxed a bit, I just rewind it. Sometimes the way it comes off the skein or whatever shape it was before I wind it, makes a difference. If there is any tension at all, it becomes too tight.

Actually when I first got a winder, I was told to always wind it twice. Only takes a couple of minutes.

 

[Yarn Happy]

The winder has a very large center, when you remove the cake from the winder, all the tension on the yarn relaxes. I really don't think it would be possible to wind too tight with a ball winder.

 

[AmyKnits]

The winder has a very large center, when you remove the cake from the winder, all the tension on the yarn relaxes. I really don't think it would be possible to wind too tight with a ball winder.

I agree. That makes sense.

 

[CheriF]

I guess I need to get a swift. Hopefully my wonderful and crafty BIL will be willing to make one for me. I figured out I am winding too tightly because I get more inches knitted out of a cake versus the skein. But since I am using 2 strands at a time, I hate the mess at the end of the skein (and sometimes in the middle). With the two skeins going ,it is twice as frustrating. I am only winding the skeins into cakes as I need them.

 

[Joy Marshall]

I wrap the yarn over my fingers and remove my fingers leaving that amount of space within the ball. I've never thought about rolling the ball just as I need it. Good idea.

This is what I do but do it for winding the entire ball.

 

[StitchDesigner]

The speed with which you crank the winder controls the tension. Just slow down a bit.

 

[barcar]

When I knit with two strands, I wind both strands into one ball before I start knitting with it.

 

[SGale]

I was reading another thread about rolling a yarn ball too tightly. How do you prevent that if you have a yarn winder? I have noticed that that the skeins I wind into a cake seem to have more yardage than those I don't. Obviously I am doing something wrong to cause the yarn to stretch.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheri

When I use a yarn winder I let the beginning hang down a bit so when I take the ball off I have a center pull ball. When you take it off the winder the center forms a bit of a hole and the yarn relaxes into that so if there was a problem with it stretching a bit it quickly goes back to the original length. I hope this makes sense; it is hard to describe something I kind of do automatically.

 

[linzers]

I use a swift and winder, and like Amy, I "wind as I go" only. I also place 2 fingers to "detour" the yarn out so that the path between the swift and the winder is increased and has to turn an angled corner. This loosens the tension a bit. Also, I roll up the ball band, place it on top of the center of the winder as I remove the new cake. As the yarn relaxes and falls in, it grabs the band, so I have it for reference if I need it. Good suggestion to wind slowly, it makes a big difference.

 

[vayankee]

The speed with which you crank the winder controls the tension. Just slow down a bit.

I agree - I've found that if I wind slowly, the cakes are much looser.....

 

[kmcnaught]

I use the x2 winding method when using my ball winder.

 

[gclemens]

I wind mine into cakes on the winder all the time, and if I think it is too tight when I take it off the winder and it has relaxed a bit, I just rewind it. Sometimes the way it comes off the skein or whatever shape it was before I wind it, makes a difference. If there is any tension at all, it becomes too tight.

Actually when I first got a winder, I was told to always wind it twice. Only takes a couple of minutes.

This is what I do and it works well. However, if I've left a cake sitting for a long time I rewind it because they can get a bit to sloppy with time.

 

[jobailey]

I use a winder and a swift and have never had a problem. I too only wind as I use the yarn.

 

[pmarch]

I just use a hand winder and create my own tension. I also only wind my hanks when I use them. Otherwise the yarn is kept to tight for to long and loses it's ump.

 

[suzybcool]

Wind a center pull ball on your winder then place the ball below the winder and rewind it, from the center, with no tension. If its still too tight do it again. I usually wind my yarn 3 times before I use it.

 

[knitcrochetlover]

I wind mine into cakes on the winder all the time, and if I think it is too tight when I take it off the winder and it has relaxed a bit, I just rewind it. Sometimes the way it comes off the skein or whatever shape it was before I wind it, makes a difference. If there is any tension at all, it becomes too tight.

Actually when I first got a winder, I was told to always wind it twice. Only takes a couple of minutes.

I wasn't told to wind it twice but have if the cake looks nasty, (yarn looking tangled i guess is the way to put it). I seems to relax, but never thought to use it right away. I wind it to save space where I store my yarn.

 

[courier770]

I rarely use my swift anymore. It sits in the closet in the fantastic padded telescope case I picked up for it..ha ha. Actually I just "drape" the hank over the corner of a chair back and wind slowly as I "lead" the strand do the winder. This forces you to go a bit slower and wind a bit looser.

In another thread I told about a horribly "tight" cake that I received via an internet purchase. I swear it was as hard as a rock and so tight I could have used it as a weapon!

Because I also spin, I have learned that tightly wound balls/cakes can damage the yarn. "Stretched" worsted weight yarn (for instance) will have a different gauge than "relaxed" worsted weight yarn and NO the finished item will not truly recover.

You can wind a ball with your hands, use a nostepinne or a ball winder but winding too tightly and too quickly is a bad choice. Think about rubber bands. A little pile of rubber bands in a desk drawer, will retail their elasticity longer than those that are wound into a ball at "maximum" stretch.

It always pleases me to hear about someone finding "vintage" yarns in pristine condition..usually those yarns have NOT been wound into a tight ball.

I have an interesting display of yarn on my fireplace hearth. A wooden yarn bowl made from "beetle kill pine" that is filled with 4 skeins of red wool yarn and one of white, that my late mother in law found in her attic..the yarn is from the 1960's with the original yarn bands in place. The skins are "loosely" wound and in pristine condition...someday I'll knit something from them. For now they just look lovely in that bowl with a couple of vintage, wood, knitting needles stuck in them!