So. Many yarns are sold in tractable bundles such as "center-pull balls" or "skeins" that allow you to 
cast on immediately and start your project. But a lot of yarn is sold in a bundle called a "hank", which is basically a big loop of yarn that's twisted up like a figure eight and needs to be re-wound into a ball or a spool before starting your project. Why would yarn not already come balled up? The answer is pretty odd, according to my research - a lot of yarn is large-scale manufactured in 3rd world countries, where cheap manufacturing costs are key. Apparently purchasing and maintaining a machine that is designed to wind center pull balls is an expense many factories can not (or choose not to) fund. I've also heard that yarn can be packaged better when it's in a hank, as well. So the expense of balling yarn goes to the purchaser. Note that although balling up my yarn by hand wasn't the worst thing in the world, it does take time and I'm sure it wouldn't be fun if I was chained to a radiator, doing it for 20 hours a day.
cast on immediately and start your project. But a lot of yarn is sold in a bundle called a "hank", which is basically a big loop of yarn that's twisted up like a figure eight and needs to be re-wound into a ball or a spool before starting your project. Why would yarn not already come balled up? The answer is pretty odd, according to my research - a lot of yarn is large-scale manufactured in 3rd world countries, where cheap manufacturing costs are key. Apparently purchasing and maintaining a machine that is designed to wind center pull balls is an expense many factories can not (or choose not to) fund. I've also heard that yarn can be packaged better when it's in a hank, as well. So the expense of balling yarn goes to the purchaser. Note that although balling up my yarn by hand wasn't the worst thing in the world, it does take time and I'm sure it wouldn't be fun if I was chained to a radiator, doing it for 20 hours a day. OK, so how does the yarn get into neat little balls? Do customers wind them up at home? You can - and I've done it a couple times - and it starts to be a serious pain after about 5 minutes. Also in this scenario, the balls pull from the outside, which means they roll all over the
place as you knit. This isn't a major inconvenience, but when it rolls far away, it causes extra tension in the yarn when you knit. And not to mention that if it rolls under the couch, it gets all sorts of dust bunnies on it. At least with my sofa. A yarn swift is used to create center-pull balls that will sit nicely in one spot as you knit. You basically loop the yarn hank around the "umbrella" portion of the swift, and expand it so the loop stays taught (but not too taught). Next you cut or untie (I never like to suggest cutting anything in knitting) the yarn holding the hank together and feed one of the loose ends through the metal eye and onto the winder. As you turn the winder handle, the umbrella will rotate and feed the winder. And 2 minutes later: Voila! A nice center-pull ball of yarn is ready! Generally the yarn store has a swift that they'll use to ball your material, as a courtesy for your purchase. Using a swift does require a little bit of hand 
coordination, which is why I am excited that the employees at the store let me finally use it on my own. If you don't know what you're doing, the yarn can slip off, or get caught in a nasty knot - and no employee wants to deal with customers doing this.
place as you knit. This isn't a major inconvenience, but when it rolls far away, it causes extra tension in the yarn when you knit. And not to mention that if it rolls under the couch, it gets all sorts of dust bunnies on it. At least with my sofa. A yarn swift is used to create center-pull balls that will sit nicely in one spot as you knit. You basically loop the yarn hank around the "umbrella" portion of the swift, and expand it so the loop stays taught (but not too taught). Next you cut or untie (I never like to suggest cutting anything in knitting) the yarn holding the hank together and feed one of the loose ends through the metal eye and onto the winder. As you turn the winder handle, the umbrella will rotate and feed the winder. And 2 minutes later: Voila! A nice center-pull ball of yarn is ready! Generally the yarn store has a swift that they'll use to ball your material, as a courtesy for your purchase. Using a swift does require a little bit of hand 
coordination, which is why I am excited that the employees at the store let me finally use it on my own. If you don't know what you're doing, the yarn can slip off, or get caught in a nasty knot - and no employee wants to deal with customers doing this. Could you skip balling up your yarn and knit right from the hank? I suppose, but I've read comments from many knitters who've done this and almost all report ultimately cutting their losses (from vicious knots that formed) and purchasing a whole new skein of yarn. You can see the center-pull yarn ball here, that I'm making socks from. These socks are for my wonderful husband, who requested them oh about a year ago, and has been patiently waiting. The socks are KOIGU KPPPM, knit on size 3 DPNs.
So that's a little blurb on using a swift. Hey, before I go, Happy Birthday to my mom, my father-in-law, and my cousin's wife, who all have birthdays this week! Cheers!
1 comment:
That's why you need a yarn bowl to keep your yarn from rolling around and collecting dust!! :) I sell my yarn in hanks because you really don't want to ball up your yarn until you are ready to use it because it can get stretched out. If it is in a hank it stays nice and relaxed until you are ready to use it!! I will, however, always ball yarn before shipping at the request of the customer. I just wouldn't recommend storing it for a while like that.
Post a Comment