My LYS owner caught me winding a center-pull ball wrong and now I do it different every time

Last Saturday I was at my local yarn shop in Portland and the owner saw me winding a hank of Malabrigo into a ball using the old toilet paper tube method. She grabbed my hands and said you are twisting the yarn tighter than a braid, you are gonna split the plies halfway through the project. Then she showed me how to use a swift and winder they had on consignment and honestly my tension has been way better since. But now I cannot decide if I should drop $45 on a winder or just keep doing the tube thing with worsted weight stuff. Has anyone else had a shop owner totally change how you prep your yarn?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim1mo ago

Kinda wild nobody mentioned how winding by hand lets you catch knots before they hit the needles. A winder hides surprise tangles until you're in the middle of a lace section. Your two choices are basically control versus convenience.

henderson.mila1mo ago

You've got a point, but honestly hand winding drives me NUTS. The time it takes just feels wasteful when I could be knitting already. A winder gives me a perfect center pull cake every time, and I just accept that tangles happen sometimes. Control is nice, but I'll take the convenience and deal with the rare surprise knot. It's a trade off I'm happy to make.