Yarn Ball Winder & Umbrella Swift
When I was doing my research to buy a new yarn winder, my thoughts went back to a much slower, easy way of life. I remember sitting on the front porch of my Grandmother’s house on a beautiful summer afternoon helping her with her yarn winder. Back then the winders were not as technologically advanced as they are today. Her yarn winder was an old wooden umbrella looking winder that Grandpa had made and painted for her to use. Of course, the wooden yarn winder is still used today; it’s just a little more sturdy. Some are made from plastic, while others are metal. My how the times have changed!
Just in case you are new to knitting, like we all were at one time, I will try and explain what a yarn winder, ball yarn winder and swift yarn winder are. See below as I’ve included a video so that you can actually see what I’m talking about! The yarn ball winders are used to make wool into ready to use balls of yarn so when you are knitting from this ball, it won’t get tangled as easily. You will be able to keep knitting by pulling the yarn from the middle of the ball that you have created. What I’ve usually done is use my swift yarn winder to hold the wool while winding the yarn into manageable hanks and then use my yarn ball winder to shape it into a ball.
My old yarn winder started making it very hard to do since it would not turn as easily any more. Oh, and a yarn winder is just about anything that you can wind your yarn on, including someone helping hold it with their arms outstretched and you winding it into a ball yourself.
Anyway, I started to look for a new yarn winder because my old one had finally seen its better days. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the winders of today. You don’t have a huge choice of yarn winders, but the Royal yarn ball winder is a good one and about the only one that is reasonably priced. The swift yarn winder still looks a lot like Grandma’s, but will wind the wool quicker and with less pull in the tension. By the way, the tighter you get the yarn, the more your measurements will be off on the finished product. So make sure when you are using the manual yarn skein winder, that you loosen the yarn up a bit when winding. I noticed that my last sweater was just a bit too small when I finished knitting it for one of my grandchildren. That was because I had the yarn too tight when I was winding it.
While I was doing my search, I came across something I had not thought of before in my knitting. I started reading about the electric ball yarn winder. Although a little pricey, I can imagine that it would save so much time if you have a lot of wool to wind. I was also thinking that it would probably save your arm and shoulder some wear and tear.
But I think for what I need, the hand turn ball winder is exactly what I need. It is portable, easy to attach to my sewing table edge, easy to use and will wind a 4-ounce ball in as little as 2-3 minutes. Also, I can use it alone or with my umbrella swift. Now that I’m thinking of it, maybe I’ll get a new umbrella swift, too.
I hope you have found this a little helpful in your search for a new yarn winder. Guess I will get back to my winding and make another sweater for one of my grandchildren. By the way, I have decided to get the Royal hand-turn yarnwinder and a new metal umbrella swift for my knitting yarn supplies. Best to you!
Here is a short video showing how to use a yarn ball winder and umbrella swift.
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