Should You Ball Your Yarn
Yarn hanks need to be wound into cakes or balls before knitting or crocheting.
Should you ball your yarn. Winding your yarn before use also prevents it from getting as tangled as it might if you were to pull directly from the skein. One of the most common newbie knitter mistakes is trying to knit directly from a hank of yarn you know the yarn that s wrapped up like a twisty baguette. How to organize your yarn. In this video our resident knitter arline shows you how to use a hank how to use a skein the difference between a hank and a skein and how to wind a center pull ball.
A hank is a loop of yarn with two ends. If the yarn is wrapped too tightly it loses all of its give. The tension or stretchiness of the yarn and your projects depends on how loose or tight you wrap your ball of yarn. Then your project can be tight and rough feeling as opposed to soft with some cushion to it.
However it may be challenging to keep it organized so you have easy access to your projects. You will not need. Some comes twisted in hanks like in the picture here. By winding a hank into a cake you create a portable ball of yarn that is easy to work from and will not tangle.
Some yarn comes already wound into center pull balls. If you knit directly from an opened hank your yarn may become tangled. After unfolding the hank loop it around a swift or chair back or the hands of a willing friend to keep it stable as you follow the steps below to wind it into a ball. You ve probably been there.
If you purchase this kind take the paper off and open the yarn up into a big loop. Keep your skeins and balls of yarn from. Yarn ball winders are also a preemptive way of inspecting your yarn for knots or weak points so you can fix them before you start working see the video below for a perfect example. You were probably shocked at how quickly it all went wrong.
Yarn wound into a skein hot water cold water and soap. The good news is winding your yarn into a ball first is actually kind of soothing. This method of washing your yarn works great for handspun yarn storebought yarn any type of yarn.