Winding Your Yarn

Hand dyed yarn will need to be wound into a ball or cake before use. There are several methods available, and there are multiple videos available on YouTube to show the various options and how they are used.

Most* of our yarn is made into a skein by us, and is in two-three sections, held together with 2-4 figure 8 ties (figure 1), with the end and beginning of the skein tied together (figure 2).

Figure 1 - A figure 8 tie, showing the three sections the skein was wound in.

Figure 2 - Knot tying beginning and end of skein together.

To start,  open your skein and make sure no sections are crossing over (figure 3), find the beginning and end of skein knot (usually this is at the end of the skein that was covered by the loop that holds the twist in place), and place on a swift with the knot facing outwards and the figure 8 ties still in place (figure 4).

Figure 3 - A section is crossed over another. You will need to straiten it out so it looks like Figure 1.

Figure 4 - The yarn placed perfectly on the swift.

Have a look at your skein - everything should be lined up nicely. If you see anything that is twisted funny (figures 5 & 6), now is the time to fix it before cutting the figure 8 ties.

Figure 5 - Notice the twist in the entire skein at the upper right and lower left.

Figure 6 - Notice that the upper section is twisted at the peg closest to the camera.

Locate the beginning and end of skein knot, making sure it isn't crossed under any other yarn, and cut.  Try unwinding from one end for several rotations of the swift. If it unwinds smoothly (figure 7), you likely have the end that was wound on the skein last, and is the best end to start with. If it seems to catch from underneath other strands (figure 8), wind it back onto the swift at either the bottom or top (so it's not going to overlap anything), and try the other end.  

Figure 7 - The yarn is pulling smoothly and not catching on other strands.

Figure 8 - The yarn is catching on other yarn as it is coming out from the inside of the skein out.

If neither end is winding off nicely, you likely have a section that is twisted on the swift or may just have it on the swift too tightly or too loosely. Have a look at your set up, and adjust what's needed. 

If your skein is too large for your swift, you just need to increase the circumference of your swift - on an umbrella swift, try wrapping a towel around the mid-section to make it bigger; on an Amish-style swift, you can wrap the pegs with washcloths or use a cut up pool noodle over the pegs.

If you're using a winder we recommend using a slight bit of tension, just enough to the tension even on the cake (figure 9). Use a steady pace - it's not a race. Uneven tension can result in "yarn barf" from the centre of the cake if you decide you want to pull from the centre while using the yarn - when in doubt, pull from the outside. 

Figure 9 - Just a gentle hold of the yarn - as much pressure as if you were holding a baby bird.

*Mill-wound skeins are not wound into sections and usually one of the figure 8 ties is made using the beginning and the end of the skein along with another figure 8 tie. Place your skein on the swift so that the tension around the skein is an even as possible - most will wound skeins have a smaller circumference inside the skein than on the outside, as the yarn stacks on itself more while being wound.