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Friday, April 29, 2011

Making a centre pull yarn ball: why do it?

I've taken a series of step-by-step photos to demonstrate how to make a centre pull yarn ball.  The first thing to answer, though, is why one would want to do it in the first place?

If you're using a twisted hank of yarn, the answer is pretty obvious.  When buying a typical skein of yarn, though, they can be centre pull, too.   Like this.

Centre pull yarn balls

Isn't that pretty?  I took out this ball, and there was the end, just waiting to be grabbed.  This is what we're supposed to get.

Unfortunately, this is what we usually get.

Yarn Barf

Meet the yarn barf. 

This is actually a very small one and easy to untangle.  I've had some that just refused to give up the end of the yarn, and instead gave up almost their entire innards.  That's not too bad if you've got a nice smooth, bulky yarn like this.  With a finer weight or a textured yarn, it can be ridiculously difficult to untangle the mess.

A well made centre pull ball of yarn not only keeps things neat, but allows for smooth flow while you work.  Much more pleasant!

If you have one, you can use a nostepinne to wind your yarn.  You can also buy a winder

If you have neither I will show three different ways to make a centre pull yarn ball.  The difference is in how the core is started.  After that, they're pretty much all the same.

First up, the finger winding method.  No tools needed at all!

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