Need help from the experts on Laceweight yarn

I can't answer your question but the Contact link on

On 8 Oct 2006 16:15:42 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com spun a fine yarn

Your hank needs to be wound, Elaine, either with a swift and winder, or the good ole fashioned way of holding the hank or putting the hank on a chair-back, and winding it into a ball. HTH, Noreen

The Prophet , known to the wise as snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com, opened the Book of Words, and read unto the people:

I usually wind laceweight around cardboard cores like the ones that crochet cotton is shipped on (a good source of cardboard cores is the central tube of industrial-size toilet-paper rolls). Just winding them into balls without some sort of core seems prone to highly unforgiving tangling.

And, yes, to undo the skein, you'll need to keep it under tension as you unwind it. An umbrella swift is best, but if you don't have one, you can improvise by keeping the skein taught between two chairbacks.

On 8 Oct 2006 16:15:42 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com spewed forth :

Only if you want to have KNOTS!!

Pick around carefully and find the ends of the hank - there will be two, for obvious reasons. Once you establish how the ends are fastened (loose knots, tight knots, merely tucked in) unfasten the ends, find the "outside" end and make your ball.

If you don't have a swift dragoon a housemate into holding the hank for you. The other party can help control tangles &c as you wind off. Others have suggested chair backs as alternatives. One person recommended winding the yarn around a cardboard core - an excellent idea.

Work off the outside of the ball once you have it wound.

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

thanks so much for the advice - I'll be winding this today!! Elaine

"Wooly" wrote

I have neither a swift nor a housemate but I have a lampshade which is a very functional alternative.

That's a great suggestion Mirjam. I don't have a stool, but can try a chair upside down, leaning on a second chair. That might work. ;>)

Shelagh

I Put a stool upside down on another chair and my hank over the [at least 3 feet of the stool ,,, and than i can wind my threads at ease ,

mirjam