This may get me kicked off Team Knitting.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 9:24PM And I'm sorry.
I've tried to stuff this part of me down inside for more than ten years, and I just... I just can't do it anymore.
I hate center pull balls.
Hate them.
Hate them a lot.
Really hate them.
A lot.
I have owned many winders over the years, from the cheapest plastic one to this number here, the Cadillac of ball winders.
If you love center pull balls, this is a good one to have. It is well constructed, runs smoothly, and will last a lifetime.
Actually, it will last me 12 lifetimes, because I never use it.
I never use it because I hate center pull balls.
They always, 100% of the time, end up tangled. Each and every time. Tangled. Always.
You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're knitting along, and then suddenly, your center pull ball throws up.
This never happens with outer pull balls of yarn.
The yarn around the edge never falls off the outside of the cake.
You never lose the little wick sticking out of the center, forcing you to fish around trying to find it, which probably contributes to the yarn vomit problem above.
What, pray tell, is so bad about this?
This kind of ball takes a few minutes more to create by hand. But guess what? So does whatever I'm knitting.
I'm not knitting because it's cheaper and easier. It's cheaper and easier to buy pre-assembled sweaters at Target.
Yes, these balls roll around a little. So I keep them in my knitting bag. Or I don't jerk them around with brute force.
I pull gently, and the yarn doesn't get motion sickness and throw up.
So. There's my confession.
I hate center pull yarn balls.
Can we still be friends?
P.S. They also stretch out your yarn. If you insist on using these abominations, wind them immediately before you begin your project, and don't store the yarn for long periods in the center pull ball. The tension the ball winder puts on the yarn can throw off your gauge.
Reader Comments (50)
So many issues here. I like the look of caked yarn. but I like the process of winding my yarn by hand even better. I like the speed of mechanical ball winding. But I don't like stretching out the yarn if I don't work with it right away. I bought a swift and ball winder over six months ago and still haven't used them. The 2 cakes made up for me at my friendly LYS 3 months ago are still sitting there. Looks like my style is wind by hand as I go along, and only use the mechanical stuff when I KNOW I will be knitting a whole sweater's worth RIGHT AWAY. Which still hasn't happened yet. The spaghetti stuff at the end of the center pull ball,doesn't bother me.
I love to wind my yarn into balls! Is the beginning of my project, and I get the feel for my yarn by winding by hand. The only way to go fro me!
I don't own a winder or a swift. (And, yes, I acknowledge that my Rav name is nearlyknitting, but that's not because I lack a winder.) I like winding yarn by hand. And I like thinking about my project while I'm winding my yarn. It's relaxing!
I enjoy the yarn balls I wind by hand. I get to enjoy the colors of yarn and agree, it is much kinder to the yarn.
I love center pull balls, I detest center pull winders.... they are kinda loosey goosey and do vomit... it's very easy to hand wind a center pull (round! even) ball -- and better yet they don't barf up hairballs...
but like so many knitting techniques there is no "right" or "wrong" there is only do or do not do!
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I thought of you today as I was winding a ball of yarn by hand, because i was too lazy to get out the winder and the swift. I though you know what the yarnista would be proud i am winding this nice ball by hand, and thats how i justified the extra time, and now i have a beautiful ball of yarn to knit with tonight!
am a center pull girl-except for the really slippery stuff. started a pair of socks this week. tons of yarn-barf, and after reading this post, i giggled each time and kept knitting until i hit the next yarn-barf. thank you for adding to my yarn terminology.
I certainly agree that a center-pull cake is a one-way road to yarn-barf. I'm of the clan that uses a winder, but I pull from the outside (unless I'm knitting socks or mitts two-at-a-time, in which case I will then likely pull from both outside and inside). However, I'm obsessive about not over-tensioning the yarn while I wind it - I've been known to pull a freshly-wound cake off the winder, dump it in a yarn bowl, and re-wind to get a squishier, less-tense ball. I'm also (mostly) good about not leaving a wound-up cake to linger, and I re-skein my leftovers.
I hate the tangles at the end but love the yarn barf in the middle. Ha!-Ha!
I do relish the idea of hand winding a ball as pretty as the one pictured. Where, pray tell, might one find instructions for winding the perfect outer pull ball of yarn?
I like both processes. I love the whirl and twirl of the winder and swift - but I also really like the social activity of winding balls by hand (my sister would hold the hank, I would wind the ball). BUT my further confession - I LOVE untangling the yarn barf. It is relaxing to me. It is mindless, but at the same time I feel like I am accomplishing something. Unless I am on a deadline - then I hate them.