• Vilma asks a good question:
• Lisa Foss writes:
• Mary Thrantell to the rescue:
• Becky concurs:

Vilma asks a good question:

I don't understand why it is recommended to wind a hank of yarn into a ball -- especially when the yarn is easily pulled from the center.

We're dealing with semantics here, Vilma. A hank of yarn is a length of yarn which has been wound around a wheel into a large circle, often a yard or more in diameter. It is often tied at two or three intervals to keep the strands corralled, and then firmly twisted into a coil, which is then folded in half with one end tucked into the loop of the other end. A label is usually attached to the hank by folding it through the loop as well. Yarns treated in this gentle manner are usually at the high end of the line and may be composed of specialty fibers.

Figure 1: This is a hank of yarn.

However, it is not recommended that a knitter attempt to work from a hank. The potential for great tangles of yarn is high unless the yarn is wound into a skein or ball before use.

Figure 2: Uncoiled, the hank reveals a large circle of yarn strands.

I prefer to use a swift to unreel the hanks; then I either use a hand-cranked ball winder or my favorite method of winding a ball by hand (which I'll cover in another newsletter very soon). A swift resembles an umbrella without the covering cloth, but it is more useful than a helpful pair of hands when it comes to making a ball or skein.

It can be adjusted easily to any size of hank by sliding the undercarriage higher or lower on the center pole. This swift can even be tilted to reel vertically as well as horizontally, making it especially nice for very slippery yarns like rayon or silk which tend to fall off the swift in a horizontal position.

Figure 3: On the swift, the yarn coil still has the ties intact. Do not remove the ties until the yarn is on the swift!

Figure 4: Yarn winders vary, but this is mine. The guides prevent the yarn from tangling as it is wound.

Figure 5: The guide in the foreground rotates around the spool, keeping the yarn at an angle which prevents overwinding in one spot.

Figure 6: Here you see the path of the yarn from swift to winder. It is important to wind the yarn slowly to keep it from gathering too tightly on the spool and becoming tangled.

Figure 7: The completed center-pull skein of yarn.

One of the nice things about using this type of skein is that the working yarn may be drawn from the center, the outside or both! There are times when you want to use a double strand, and this configuration makes it a snap if you only have one skein.

A commercial skein is normally sold after being wound on a machine into an oval ball and wrapped with a ball band. You are correct, Vilma: It is often easy to draw the yarn from the center of a skein to use for knitting, making no further action required. Coming soon, I'll also share a way to avoid that huge wad of yarn which sometimes escapes when all you want is the single end. --Editor