When I was a girl we wound all of our yarn by hand. We bought most of our yarn for the year at the big fall Leewards sale, enough to fill the trunk of the Buick.
We bought six, or sometimes twelve, 4-oz skeins of each color of worsted weight wool, Ma’s rule for “enough for a sweater.” It was actually more than we needed for most sweaters but the dribs and drabs and skeins left over went into mittens, hats, doll clothes, and afghans. We kids spent a lot of time messing about in snow, and needed many mittens and hats.
Leewards was eventually bought by Michaels, and yarn prices went from 69¢ per skein (39¢ on sale) to, well, more. But the skill of winding a good, center-pull ball of yarn from a hank hasn’t changed. Here’s how to do it. Enjoy.
This was very helpful! I don’t often buy hanks of yarn (vs, skeins with a center pull), but it’s nice to know the proper way to wind them when I do. I need to go back and rewind my small collection of balls now!
I’m so glad it helped you Marilyn. Thanks for letting my know.
Wonderful thank you
You are so welcome Barbara and thank you.
Thank you for this!
Thank you Cheryl!
All this time (sporadic years of time) of winding by hand and now I finally know how to make a proper ball of yarn from a skein! Thank you! You are such a delight to listen to and be taught.
I have never had a swift or winder. The backs of two ladder back chairs, backs facing and a bit apart from each other have worked well enough., though I’ve always felt the balls were wound too tightly… not enough squishy. Winding over fingers is a fantastic idea.
I’m off to rewind some yarn already waiting for their project to begin and I can make the balls center pulling now, too! How happy I am!
Cheerio! Thanks again!
elizabeth sierra
You are so welcome Elizabeth and thank you for this kind comment. I never thought of using 2 chairs at once! That’s a great idea. Of course, it has been many years since I’ve had two matching chairs. 😀
Thank you so much for the very helpful video. It was very clear and easy to follow. I have tried winding my yarn loosely to no avail. I’m going to wind a center pull ball now. You’re the best.
You are so welcome Anna and thank you for this kind comment. Wind away!