Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Unwind skeins to ball them up  (Read 3959 times)

Welshcob

  • Joined Jul 2012
Unwind skeins to ball them up
« on: November 25, 2012, 08:12:03 pm »
I have just spent too much time untangling, trying to unwind some (lovely) super-hyper tangled skeins that I bought at Woolfest. I love the wool and the feel of it and I can now knit it  :knit:, but is there any easy way to unwind them and make the balling process a stress-free and (relatively) quick thing?  :idea:
I don't always have half Sunday afternoon to sort two!!

I thought I had patience and untangling skills to sell but these have proven most difficult  :rant:

P.S. in case it wasn't clear, they were the worst tangly mess I've ever seen. And I have seen all sorts of tangles in my (albeit short compared to some) life  :-J

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2012, 08:26:29 pm »
I use my OH's arms nomally to ball up skeins, if he has had the good sense and disappeared just as I take them out of the bag I just use the top of two chairs, pulled apart so that they are reasonalby tight... not sure I understand what you mean by tangled, if they haven't had separating ties in them it will always bery diffficult to unwind them... ???

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2012, 09:07:28 pm »
I now have an umbrella swift and a ball winder, after much struggling and swearing with this job. Backs of two chairs are all very well, and can be useful if nothing better.
Can you borrow a swift and ball winder - who is near you?


Welshcob

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2012, 10:38:43 pm »
... not sure I understand what you mean by tangled, if they haven't had separating ties in them it will always bery diffficult to unwind them... ???

I have found the separating ties (I guess you mean the bits of spare yarn used to tie off two-three strands of yarn), the problem was that I didn't know whether they were to be left, or somehow used to elongate the strands or else... chopped off. Which is what I did after much headache and confusion. It seemed to help in loosening more yarn to pull in my ball, but after a bit I got tangled again.

Am I supposed to keep the separating ties in place and the whole skein rotates because you are pulling the yarn from it?  ???
I found that one of the ties was the beginning/end of the skein - is there one end that is better than the other to start pulling?  ???

(OH not good with this sort if thing and wouldn't lend his arms for attempts. I ended up using my feet kept widely apart!  :roflanim:)

Can you borrow a swift and ball winder - who is near you?

I could have a shufty around jaykay, but I don't have a car that I can use at my pleasure most of the time (OH tends to keep it for himself), so I couldn't go and collect them even if somebody was close enough; there's always the hoarding issue (which OH kindly lets me not forget), and also I think I'm actually missing some important bit of info in this matter  ??? ::) I would like to learn how to do it myself before acquiring/borrowing more equipment. Also I tend to buy balls anyway, I have very few skeins atm (will have more when I spin more).

Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2012, 10:43:44 pm »
Think I understand what you mean hun.

Take it as it comes and put around your feet/OH arms/back of chair and find the end. Cut the ties and make your ball unwinding it off your feet/OH arms/back of chair. I sat on the floor with my legs straight and did mine.

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

www.sixoaks.co.uk

www.facebook.com/pg/sixoakssmallholding

www.goodlife.sixoaks.co.uk

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2012, 10:47:09 pm »
You take off all the skein ties. Sometimes one of them is the beginning of the skein, sometimes not.

Then put it round the back of two chairs and wind into a ball. This is where the swift wins out cos it spins and can be tensioned - but plenty of us managed on chairs for long enough. Actually I often use to put a skein on my feet and wind from there  :D

The ball is nicer to use if it's wound 'centre pull' which means you wind it onto a thick stick or something, leaving the tail hanging out, then pull out the stick. Again you can get special ball-winding-sticks called nostepinnes.

YouTube will have a video somewhere of how to wind a ball on one.

Crossposted with Dans.

Alistair

  • Joined Sep 2012
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2012, 07:20:59 am »


I've got a cat that does that does it for me, we'll not all of it, but she can untangle it so you can see where the knots are




SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2012, 07:54:44 am »
Here's Sheila Dixon ("Handspinner") using a nostepinne to make a centre-pull ball.  I wind it on the tube out of a toilet roll, or if I want something a bit stronger and/or longer, out of a roll of kitchen foil or similar.  Drop the starting end down inside the tube, that's the starting end when you come to knit.

The video doesn't show you the unwinding bit.  I hang mine on the back of a chair, find an end - sometimes it's obvious which will be the better, sometimes not  :-\ - and only untie the other ties as each becomes necessary.  Mostly people will put ties on every 100 or so loops, so keeping them in place until you get into that 'batch' of loops helps, I find.  If I think there may be tangles, I tend to find and free up 5-10 loops at a time, then wind them onto my 'nostepinne', then free up the next 5-10, and so on.  If the loop I want goes underneath the heap, I pick up the whole remaining skein and turn it around on the back of the chair so that the loop I want comes to the front.  Don't start passing your ball in and out of loops, it shouldn't be necessary.

Hope that helps!
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Ina

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • South Aberdeenshire
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2012, 09:26:05 am »


I've got a cat that does that does it for me, we'll not all of it, but she can untangle it so you can see where the knots are

On the other hand, it's often the fact that a cat has played with it why it's entangled in the first place...

I think whichever method you use, if the skeins are tangled up you need a lot of patience and probably more time than you expected!

FiB

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Bala, North Wales
    • Facebook
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2012, 10:09:19 am »


I've got a cat that does that does it for me, we'll not all of it, but she can untangle it so you can see where the knots are
;D ;D  I now have to cover my spinning wheel as the cat has discovered the fun of pulling the wool off the bobbin Grrrr  If only they were trainable!

Ina

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • South Aberdeenshire
Re: Unwind skeins to ball them up
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2012, 10:37:33 am »
My cat is great with wool - but I'm still trying to teach her why I occasionally hold a book in front of my face, and that if I do, I don't want her there as well! ::)

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS