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cdenehy
New Pal
Australia
13 Posts |
 Posted - 08/23/2002 : 5:59:54 PM
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I love my ball winder and don't know how I lived without it. The true magic is that my husnband encouraged me to buy a swift (only the plastic and metal kind) and the interior labelling called it "the all-powerful reeling machine." This led to much mirth AND he loves helping me wind balls and controls the swift while I feed the winder. Since this is the only real interest he's ever shown in my knitting condition, I am glad he found something in it to amuse himself.
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CatherineM
Permanent Resident
USA
3363 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2002 : 02:56:15 AM
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quote:
The true magic is that my husnband encouraged me to buy a swift (only the plastic and metal kind) and the interior labelling called it "the all-powerful reeling machine."
Oh, half the fun was reading the instructions inside the package, which apparently were translated from Japanese by someone who had about two weeks of English lessons.  They manage to convey their point, but in a totally adorable way. From the illustrations, it appears they haven't updated their instruction sheet in at least 30 years. Maybe they've decided it's part of the charm of the product.
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beabeauchamp2001@yahoo.ca
New Pal
1 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2002 : 4:35:35 PM
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Hello Folks!
I've just been reading all about the ball winders. I've had mine for atleast 14 years. I'm known to be the gadget Queen so, when I purchased my first knitting machine, I had to have one. I have it set up at all times. If for some reason I can't find the centre of the wool and I pull out too much yarn, I can easily rewind it.
I've also found that my winder is good for when I knit the kids a sweater, I let them help by winding their own yarn. They've not caught on-to the concept that its working for the beauty of a hand-knit.
Keep Knitting, Bea |
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schoolmama
Permanent Resident
USA
2309 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2002 : 10:28:30 PM
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MY ball winder came in the mail today! I haven't had a chance to use it yet, as my 3 yr. old dgd was here and she is a little too inquisitive to let explore some things!! I haven't made up my mind about a swift, except that dh actually looked up one on ebay last night, selling for about$36. He told me he thought that people used their husbands to hold the yarn...and I looked at him and said, yeah, some still do...as someone said, it is something to show some interest in my knitting! Another thing is that I don't buy much yarn that is not in balls already, just my Lorna's Laces so far. But I do sometimes want to rewind a ball. Barb
"OF ALL THE THINGS I HAVE LOST, I MISS MY MIND THE MOST!" |
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schoolmama
Permanent Resident
USA
2309 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2002 : 9:46:50 PM
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I have wound all my Lorna's Laces--wonderful little gadget. Then, today my dh decided to give the winder a whirl. He probably would have rewound all the yarn for his sweater, but had to go fix something for work. He got a little flustered when the end got all tangled, but did manage to wind about 6 3 oz. skeins!! I rewound an 8 oz. skein after he left, that I am using for a mariner's scarf. Barb
"OF ALL THE THINGS I HAVE LOST, I MISS MY MIND THE MOST!" |
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Shelia
Permanent Resident
USA
2315 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2002 : 08:46:02 AM
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I just spent all day yesterday winding and plying 2 pounds of thread-thick merino wool that I got on sale at School Products, to be used for the Interweave Tote. I would never have been able to do this without my ball winder! The balls were too large to combine when over 6 strands, so I decided to make some 3-strand balls to knit together with the 6's if it needed to be thicker. The ball winder is great for plying together the threads, and I'm sure that my arms and shoulders got a workout from all of this. If I'd had to do this by hand it would have taken me weeks, working on and off.
Just an aside, I knitted up a swatch , working both the 6 strand and combining for a 9 strand. When I washed and agitated the swatch (this is for a felted tote, remember), I have never seen a yarn bloom so much before it started to felt. It's a beautiful plum color as well, so I'm feeling really lucky to have found it on sale for $5/lb.!
Shelia
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pmfpa
New Pal
20 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2002 : 04:49:07 AM
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Hello All, A word of warning on ball winders. I have a swift and winder and love them. What a quick way to prepare a project. BUT...when I placed my skein of slippery rayon from fiesta yarns on and made a ball, all seemed well until I knit a few rows. The hole in the center pull ball collapsed and I was left with an impossible mess of rayon spaghetti. The company says this should only be wound by hand. At $28.00 a skein, I suggested they metion this on the label, since many of us that work primarily with wool use this method often. I didn't get a lot of sympathy, and had to buy another skein.
Happy Knitting, Pam
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Elsa
Chatty Knitter
154 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2002 : 1:09:23 PM
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Okay okay! I bought a ball winder, how could I resist after following the gadget conversations. I waited until Ben Franklins published their 40% off monthly coupon and bought it that way. It was selling for $42 plus tax and I walked away with it for $27! I had been trying to explain my need for one to my guy but it didn't click until I brought it home. He played with it and said "Now that is COOL!" I don't have a swift yet so I will be using some other method. If you have any other suggestion about using a ball winder without the swift I would love to hear about it! Of course, I am going to try some of the methods already talked about in this thread, the knees, the neck, etc... How about it you knitting geniuses, any other methods out there? Thanks,
Elsa
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kepkake
Chatty Knitter
USA
251 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2002 : 07:26:59 AM
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Hi Elsa,
I personally think the lampshade idea that someone else posted on this thread is a stroke of genius. Apparently, you can just unscrew the nut on the top of the shade and take it off. This allows the shade to "spin" freely on the base. Put your skein of yarn over the top (it has to be the kind of shade that is large at the bottom and tapers at the top) and let it rest at the larger bottom. Take the end of the yarn and start unravelling. Don't you just love resourceful people? Good luck and have fun with your new toy.
Wendy |
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Elsa
Chatty Knitter
154 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2002 : 7:46:18 PM
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That is genius Wendy! But, I don't have any lamp that would qualify unfortunatly... I think tomorrow I'll probably give the neck method a whirl.
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KarinaJ
New Pal
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 11:58:55 AM
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Elsa - I don't have a swift either, so I found two chairs and put them back to back, put the skein over the back, and then sat in a third chair next to them. I had to guide the yarn off of the chair backs with one hand while I turned the winder with the other, so the ball is kind of loose, but I was pleased with how well it worked!
of course, I was lucky b/c I have 2 kiddy chairs that worked really well to hold skeins, plus they're a little lower than I am in the third chair.
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Dot
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 3:36:55 PM
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Oooh, Shelia, thread-weight merino at School? Haven't been in a couple of months and it wasn't there on my last visit. What am I saying? I've been knitting less than a year and my stash is threatening to take over my bedroom!!! (Okay, a BIG bag is from a friend who moved to Florida and gave me her cones of machine-weight warm yarn that she knew she'd never use down there.) I'm curious about about the 6-stand plus 3-strand balls. Thanks to your instructions, I stranded some thread weight (? or so it seemed to me) cashmere with same weight camel hair a few months ago--part of my friend's largesse. I got two eight-strand balls. (Still trying to decide what to do with it. I thought a short scarf but I'm not sure the cashmere quite softens up the camel hair enough. It's a bit scratchy, even for me with my high tolerance for it.) And also, what size needles are you using with the 9-strand yarn?
I get a kick out of reading about how all your DHs like to wind yarn balls. Think I've mentioned this before, but I have a guy friend who just loves to wind balls when he visits. Perhaps we're stumbling onto a new parlor game here?
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storiesr
Sustaining Member
692 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2002 : 5:18:14 PM
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I love my ball winder a well.
Check out E-Bay for swifts. And don't let the old models scare you away. I purchased one that was called "Yarn Winder" instead of swift and for that reason not too many folks looked at it; I got it for $4.99!! It is not a new fancy-looking one but it sure does the trick. Needless to say I am tickled pink.
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