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How to Use a Basic Yarn Winder – Photo Tutorial

October 10, 2018

This post contains affiliate links for LoveCrochet. If you make a purchase by clicking on them, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

If you have ever used a boutique skein of yarn – something a little more luxurious or hand dyed, it comes in a twisted up skein that looks kind of like a cinnamon twist thing from your local donut shop. A yarn brand I use more frequently that needs to be wound is Berroco, and in this example, I am using their Modern Cotton DK. This works with any yarn though – it can even be used to rewind yarn that is in your stash!

For my Yarn Winder, I am using a basic one found at Hobby Lobby – this one to be exact. There are several different ones out there, this just happens to be the first one I saw when I was out and about, so I bought it. I would love to have one like my local yarn shop has that winds the yarn itself! One day… On to the tutorial!

Let’s Wind Some Yarn!

If you are using a skein like mine, you will need to get it all set up first. First things first, you will notice that your skein is tied in two (or three) places. Carefully cut one of the loops, and pull it out. Do this around. One of the ties will be the two tails of your yarn – take note to where they are.

After cutting the ties, you can carefully untwist the skein, and you will end up with one big loop.

Place this loop around something of a similar size – in my case, I use a spare box, but you could wrap it around a chair, or have someone hold it for you. Just be careful because you don’t want any part of this to fall, as it will easily lead to a tangled mess.

I use the box all the time, but even still, sometimes as I work, some part of it will try to come off, and I just keep pushing down the corners. Most of the time, it works perfect, other times I want to cry trying to untangle it. Just be patience and go slow.

This yarn winder has a gizmo on the bottom that moves side to side, and is controlled by the winding motion. Grab one of the tail ends, and wind it around the gizmo twice/thread through the center hole working away from you.

Pull the tail end around and over the backside of the winder, and place it into the notch on the wheel – there should be two notches, any will work. This is going to be your center pull later.

Wind clockwise a few times to secure the yarn…

As I continue to wind, I keep tension on my working yarn by holding it the same way I hold my yarn when I crochet. If you don’t keep slight tension on the yarn, it will form a messy ball of yarn that will tangle as you try to pull from it and work, and it could also slip on the side of the yarn while winding, which results in the same situation.

I also hold the left side of the winder down so it doesn’t escape – the winder does come with a clamp to clamp it down to a table, but it didn’t really work that great for my table. I find just holding it is much easier. I will also add that my winder has a screw on the bottom of it that scratched up my table the first time I used it, so I also keep something down underneath it when I work.

Now, just wind. I find the whole process to take about 35 to 45 minutes. I wind while I watch TV. Be patience, and don’t work too fast so you don’t have any yarn mishaps.

And then you’ll end up with a beautiful, full skein!

Pull the beginning tail out of the notch on the wheel, and carefully pull your ball off the yarn winder.

Now, you are ready to crochet/knit!

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Filed Under: Crochet, Knitting Tagged With: Berroco Modern Cotton DK, Crochet How To, Free Crochet Tutorial, Hobby Lobby, Knitting How To, Knitting Tutorial, LoveCrochet, Photo Tutorial

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Comments

  1. teresa says

    October 18, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    Nice. I don’t have one of those, I usually place the skeins on the back of a chair and manually roll them into a ball…
    Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      October 23, 2018 at 9:21 pm

      I tried this, but a full skein is a bit much for my patience level, so I had to get one of these winders.

      Reply
  2. Lisa // Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing & Crafting says

    October 22, 2018 at 10:14 am

    This is so useful! I always have problems when I have to wind yarn. Pinning! 🙂 Lisa

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      October 23, 2018 at 9:21 pm

      Thanks so much, Lisa! Good luck with your next skein!

      Reply
  3. Ginny says

    October 31, 2018 at 11:08 am

    What a great gadget. My mum used to get me to sit with the yarn round my hands, while she wound it to a ball. Thanks for joining in my party for October.

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      November 6, 2018 at 7:41 pm

      I can remember doing that with my grandma. Hehe. Now, there are beautiful swifts available!

      Reply
  4. Claire Justine says

    October 31, 2018 at 11:13 am

    This looks like a good idea 🙂

    Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Creative Mondays. Have a great week and we hope to see you soon.

    Reply

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Welcome!

Welcome!

Hey! I'm Alexandra, the blogger and creator behind EyeLoveKnots and On Rockwood Lane! My passion is being creative. My favorite thing to do is crochet, and you will almost always find me having a cup of coffee and working on a new crochet project, but when I'm not doing that, you might find me out at a local park rollerblading, baking some fresh cookies, picking veggies in the garden or re-decorating for a new season or holiday. My two cats are great supervisors for all my adventures (minus the being outside because they think it's too hot in Florida to be anywhere but inside), and make sure I take plenty of breaks.

Meet the Team!

Meet the Team!

On the left, Abby is the maker behind A Stitch Shy of Normal, and on the right Jessica is the maker behind Nice and Knotty and Candace is the maker behind TandC Crafters.

Together, they help me bring awesome crochet projects to you! Click the image to learn more about them, and get their Instagram links, where they are constantly sharing tons of crochet inspiration.

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