The Sewing Place
The Emporia => A Good Yarn => Topic started by: Marniesews on June 07, 2018, 16:01:31 PM
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I'd noticed some knitters drawing wool from the centre of the ball & thought this would be really useful as I'm often crocheting in the front passenger seat of the car with my wool in a bag.
I haven't found a reliable way of doing this without frequently pulling out a mass of tangled wool first. Any tips?
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I think you only get the tangle at the start of the ball where there is a tight core. Once that central hole opens out a bit you should be ok.
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Pulling from the centre of the ball works for a lot of people, but IMO once the ball starts to collapse around the used up middle it collapses and makes for more mess than working from the outside :\
Fishing the middle out is very easy sometimes, but at other times it comes out as a huge great tangle. I think it's one of those things that you have to try a few times to decide which way suits you.
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It's never an easy thing to do. Only once or twice have I managed to not pull out a bird's nest and spent ages finding the end of it.
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Something I do a lot as it stops the wool rolling around plus once you get started the wool flows much more smoothly - well usually anyway.
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I'll just persevere now I know there's no secret tip. Thanks. :)
It makes a huge difference when unwinding from a ball inside a carrier bag and the loose floppy stage seems ok when it's enclosed too.
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I prefer to pull from the centre of the ball if possible, as the ball tends to move around less when I'm actually knitting.
I generally have a root around when I start but give up if I can't find the end easily.
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Perhaps the collapse as you get near to the outside could be prevented if this balk was enclosed in a small bag or container - I'm thinking here of balls of garden string that come in a tin.
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I seem to remember that Kaffe Fassett takes off his shoes and puts his balls of wool inside them when he's knitting in public... ;)
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I pull from the centre because it stops the yarn rolling around , but it can be a bit of a faff getting the middle bit out.
I like the idea of containing the yarn in socks - not so sure about using the ones I'm wearing! ;)
Jessie
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His shoes, Jessie, not his socks! >< 0_0 :o
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Might it help to rewind the yarn on a wool winder as used by machine knitters? The wound yarn is usually used from the middle but I think some of them come with removable cones that the yarn can be left on and you can then use it from the outside.
They are fairly cheap on Ebay:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/knitting-wool-winder/163085078351?hash=item25f8a0cf4f:g:IbMAAOSwMM9bGBKY
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Thank you @Greybird. I have to admit my initial response was rewinding wool will only add yet more time to this interminable project (a blanket for DD's king size bed - at her request I hasten to add).
It's supposed to be picked up & put down between sewing but with my memory it's put down & then forgotten for months! I think I'm also discouraged by the bag of big balls of wool (mostly 4 colours per square) that I have to cart about so now I'm thinking I should give this a try, especially as I can draw the wool from the middle too. On reflection it sounds a great idea now.
Many thanks :D
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@Marniesews they wind so quickly that I think it would save you time (and frustration!) in the long run. Good luck!
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I've bought one on eBay - 'buy it now' don't want to wait & see if I win a bid.
This one (http://www.loopknittingshop.com/search) looks more sturdy and has a glowing review from the Crafty Writer but can you believe that price? :S
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(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35423095_2011631322182644_4553273866201333760_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=793377c7ec7b0b8f46ff42b9e7e3ceb2&oe=5BBC8871)
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Who's been in my wool bag?! Seems like it will look like that for a little longer, Pearl, as my ebay order due between Tuesday/Thursday still hasn't arrived.
Not sure how long I should wait before I query it. ><
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The advantage is that the whole ball is less likely to unwind if you drop it (you can tie in the outside end), but as Brenda says, it does collapse a bit when you get near the end.
If you wind your own balls from big skeins, it's easy to get it do this, and to come out easily! To start, make a few loops over your hand, then holding the bunch of loops with the free end sticking out, start winding the ball this way and that over the loops, always making sure the free end is sticking out. When you are done, pull the free end (or the whole bunch of loops) out from the middle and it will come out easily from the centre. I'm not sure it always woks so well with commercial balls that aren't made to do that.
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Can anyone remember those plastic wool holders we used to use? They looked like a beehive with a round flat base going up to a sort of rounded off cone shape. You put your ball of wool inside and threaded the end of wool through a hole in the top. They would either stand on the floor next to you or they had a plastic loop on the top so you could carry them on your wrist as you walked around knitting (???!!). I don't suppose they would work these days with the shape of todays 'balls' of yarn as it required the ball to rotate as you pulled it out. At the time, yarn was sold in hanks that you had to wind into balls before you could use them anyway.
Ann x
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"looked like a beehive with a round flat base going up to a sort of rounded off cone shape."
My mum had a pink one! :S
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The beehive shaped ones would have been marketed by Paton and Baldwins; some of their wool was branded Beehive.
Mine is a much more mundane shape and it has 'Falcon Nestling, double knitting' printed onto a transparent sticker which is on the side. I use it for bits of string!
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Well, we're not doing very well on buying a wool winder. The one ordered from eBay didn't turn up and the seller just refunded the cost without explanation whereas I'd really rather they'd just sent another. Now I've got my sewing alterations for yesterday's comp out of the way, I'll have another look what's available - the practicality of having several smaller balls of wool to carry around is appealing too but I know I don't have the patience to wind my own, @Sewingforfun . :|
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Well, we're not doing very well on buying a wool winder. The one ordered from eBay didn't turn up and the seller just refunded the cost without explanation whereas I'd really rather they'd just sent another. Now I've got my sewing alterations for yesterday's comp out of the way, I'll have another look what's available - the practicality of having several smaller balls of wool to carry around is appealing too but I know I don't have the patience to wind my own, @Sewingforfun . :|
I have an umbrella "swift" that holds the skeins and goes round and round as you pull the wool off it. Like this - https://www.ckbltd.com/uk/craft/wooden-knitting-umbrella-swift-yarn-winder-holder.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwgr3ZBRAAEiwAGVssnY1H93PEi18HiXLcpcZLT6JJyt3x3c76DhhlTe7SbBgJZer1FN_ithoCkPIQAvD_BwE
To do the balls, I make the loops as above, then wind diagonally one way then the other. It is mindless and easily done while doing something else! (but the wool has to come in skeins to start with, obvs...)