pull-out skeins

[blankie]

Hello,

I am an extreme beginner, so my question may seem real silly, but when starting a new skein (?) of yarn, does it need to be rolled up into a ball first? I was working on a baby blanket with the pipsqueak yarn and I encountered a big mess of yarn near the end of the skein(?). BTW, I have taken that blanket apart 4 times, I vary in stitchies at the end of every row. . .very frustrating haha! I guess pipsqueak yarn was not the easiest yarn to teach myself with. I do have another blanket project to do and I am using the baby coordinates. Anyway my question is, is there a tutorial out there that demonstrates how to do a dc in a dc?

Thank you.

[Shandeh]

Hello blankie!

If you ask this question to a group of knitters, you will have an equal amount of "pro ball winders" and "non ball winders". Each group will INSIST that their way is right.

But, it really depends on each person. If you want to wind your yarn into a ball before working with it, go right ahead.

I never wind my yarn before using it. I just use it, starting from the center of the skein, and have only had a few twists and knots. Most of the time, my yarn goes smoothly from the skein to my project. The only time I wind a ball of yarn is if I purchase a HANK of yarn at a fancy yarn shop. When I do that, I use my yarn swift and ball winder to make center-pull cakes.

Here is a video I made, showing how to find the center of a skein of yarn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC3uESjGB8Y

[blankie]

that video was awesome. Thank so much for your replay and the instructional video!!

[Shandeh]

that video was awesome. Thank so much for your replay and the instructional video!!

You're very welcome! Glad I could help.

[Tanya]

Great video.! I heard about this, but never tried yet.

[Shandeh]

Great video.! I heard about this, but never tried yet.

Just give it a try. If you do it once, you got it. It works for every skein of yarn. The only yarn it doesn't work for is the hanks you buy at fancy yarn shops. Those have to be placed on swifts, and wound into a cake with a yarn ball winder.

[Tanya]

Great video.! I heard about this, but never tried yet.

Just give it a try.

Yeaaaaah, it worked!

[Shandeh]

Great video.! I heard about this, but never tried yet.

Just give it a try.

Yeaaaaah, it worked!

Woo Hoo!

[karenarp]

Shandeh, great video!
I have always started my yarn like this, though sometimes I swear half the ball came out once in a while. Then when a huge chunk comes out I just repeat the process to find the centre start again. I do find that the Baby Softee has a large number of bad starting centres compared to other balls.

[Shandeh]

Shandeh, great video!
I have always started my yarn like this, though sometimes I swear half the ball came out once in a while. Then when a huge chunk comes out I just repeat the process to find the centre start again. I do find that the Baby Softee has a large number of bad starting centres compared to other balls.

Thanks!

Yeah, if I feel a big chunk coming out, I will switch to the other side. I can usually get a smaller section this way. But, very rarely, I get one of those big honking yarn barfs too. When that happens, I just find the center of THAT, and work with it until it disappears....then I'm back to working from the center of the original skein.

I think that any of the really slippery, shiny yarns will be more prone to that happening. Bernat Baby Softee or Bernat Satin are some examples.